We can take the tears away
by TheLovelyRusher
Summary: Carlos is injured and ill, and his buddies are there for him through it all, even if it means getting sick themselves.
1. close call

**A/N I don't know where this came from, it just randomly barfed out of my head last night. I simply could not resist. Yep, another Carlos sicky fic, which I have gotten requests for so all who requested this, here you go. This will be mostly Cargan bromance based.**

"Carlos, are you sure this is a good idea?" Logan asked, strapping on his inline skates. It was a cool, windy L.A. night and Carlos apparently thought it would be a fun idea to dare Kendall, Logan and James to a skate race down a street on a huge hill, and whoever lost had to buy dinner.

"Oh, Logan, what's the worst that can happen?" Carlos asked.

"Oh, I don't know, broken bones, concussions, rolling into the street at the bottom of the hill-"

"Quit being such a downer," Carlos said, getting to his feet after putting on his electric green inlines. He must have gotten up too fast because he wavered a bit with a headrush, but luckily none of his friends saw. To be honest, Carlos wasn't feeling himself all day. That's the whole reason why he wanted to do a stupid stunt, to prove to himself that he wasn't falling ill. Carlos Garcia could not be sick. He had to many crazy stunts to perform and too many people to terrorize. Illness was not an option for this energetic Latino.

"Yeah, this does seem a little risky," Kendall said, looking down the giant hill that resembled a mountain. Rarely did Kendall ever agree with Logan, he usually liked to try to get the shy boy out of his shell, not encourage his fear of_ everything._ But this hill was way too big for even Kendall's liking.

"As long as 'The Face' doesn't get hurt, I'm good," James said excitedly, patting the faceguard of his football helmet.

"James, you look ridiculous," Logan teased. "And that's it, I can't do this." Logan took off his skates.

"I'm with Logan," Kendall said.

"Wimps! I guess it's just you and me James!" Carlos said. "Kendall, referee us!"

"Ok. On your marks…" Kendall said, and James and Carlos skated to the tippy top of the hill. "Get set…" James and Carlos started into their crouching positions. "Go!" And they were off, skating down the ridiculously huge hill at an even more ridiculous speed.

"Please don't die, please don't die, Please don't die," Logan chanted, watching their bodies zoom down the incline in a blur. "Aah, I can't watch!" Logan squished his eyes shut.

"Eat my Latino dust!" Carlos cried, speeding past James so fast he could barely see the pavement rushing by. All he knew was the bottom of the hill and street were coming quick, and that he should probably start to slow down. At this point, he would definitely win, but he wanted to be sure he beat James so he kept the speed up.

But suddenly, the headrush he felt earlier was back full force. Dizziness waved over Carlos and he immediately lost his balance and stumbled forward, smacking the pavement hard. He heard a loud 'crack!' and pain shot up his wrist. He rolled down to the bottom of the hill, the solid asphalt jarring his body painfully with each hit as he rolled dangerously fast towards the busy intersection.

"Carlos!" James cried when his friend suddenly wiped out in front of him, and horror washed over him when his limp body neared the street.

"James, catch him!" Kendall screeched, running down the hill as fast he could with Logan right on his trail.

Carlos stopped rolling a quarter of the way into the first lane, and a car was speeding towards him. "I gotcha Carlos!" James cried. He grabbed Carlos' arm and dragged him to safety, just in time for the car to pass by, the driver not even seeing 2 teenage boys in the road.

James hung onto Carlos' body tightly as they felt the wind from the car rush by them, nearly knocking them over. The tall brunette cradled Carlos in his lap on the sidewalk as Kendall and Logan ran towards them

"What the hell happened?" Kendall demanded. Carlos was the best skater out of all of them, and they had scoured the hill before the race for rocks or anything that may trip them.

"Oww," Carlos whimpered, squirming in James' lap. He hurt, everywhere. Not to mention the sickening knot in his stomach that suddenly formed. James removed Carlos' helmet and smoothed back his soft black hair in an attempt to comfort him.

"What hurts, Carlos?" Logan asked, assessing Carlos' wounds.

"Everything," Carlos whimpered. "Especially my wrist."

Logan gently took Carlos' arm in his hands and pushed the sleeve up, and Carlos hissed in pain. The small boy was covered in scratches and already-forming bruises. His jeans and hoodie were ripped, but overall protected him from roadrash. He had a bad cut on the bottom of his chin that may require stitches, but the worst was definitely his wrist, which was swollen large and purple. The young doctor-in-training knew right away it was broken.

"His wrist is broken. We gotta get him to a hospital," Logan announced.

"No, no hospital," Carlos whined. He hated hospitals with a passion. "I want you to take care of me Logan."

"I'm sorry Carlos, I can't fix broken bones. I'll take care of you when we get home." Logan took off up the hill so he could bring the BTR-Mobile around.

"Just hang on buddy," Kendall said when Carlos moaned. He wasn't looking well. His normally caramel skin was white as a sheet. "What happened, Carlos? You almost never wipeout. Did your wheel break?"

Carlos shook his head. "No. All of a sudden I felt really dizzy and I fell."

"You got dizzy?" Kendall asked, worried. He wasn't expecting that.

"And now my tummy hurts, a lot," Carlos complained, holding his middle and cringing.

"Kendall, he's really warm," James said, stroking the younger boy's forehead.

"Carlitos, are you sick?" Kendall asked gently, and Carlos didn't have to answer. He rolled onto his side, gagged once, and released all the contents of his stomach onto the cement. James shared a shocked look with Kendall as he rubbed Carlos' back soothingly to get him through it.

Kendall lifted Carlos' warm body up to his chest, cradling him bridal style when the BTR-Mobile pulled up. "He needs a hospital, now."

**A/N Awe, Carlitos had an accident. Hope you enjoyed. And I want this story to focus solely on the boys so there will be no other characters which mean no Mama Knight or Katie unless you guys absolutely must have them in here. I just don't feel like I write those characters very well, you know? So the boys will be 18 and living in the Palmwoods on their own in this. Please review, I will love you forever if you do. Have a great weekend everybody! I start my new job at the aquarium tomorrow woo!**


	2. loopy Carlos and mystery slime

**A/N Sorry this took me so long! I hope I still have everyone's interest. I didn't have computer access for over a week. Thanks so much for all the amazing reviews I love you guys! Here's an extra-long chapter for being so patient. PS this story is going to be just really cute and funny bromance fluff. No serious plot or anythin**g.

"Logan! Carlos is sick!" Kendall announced, getting into the backseat of the BTRMobile and holding Carlos in his lap while James took shotgun.

"What happened?" Logan asked, turning in his seat to study his friends' pasty pallor. He definitely looked ill.

"I threw up," Carlos said guiltily, tears welling in his eyes. He was embarrassed and hurt, and he couldn't help it when tears started welling in his eyes. He started sobbing and quickly hid his face in Kendall's shirt.

"Drive," Kendall ordered Logan. The blonde could feel the fabric on his chest becoming soaked with tears and blood. "Jeez Carlos you're really bleeding," Kendall muttered worriedly.

"W-what?" Carlos blubbered. He was scared to death of blood and with all the commotion he hadn't even noticed he was bleeding, and when he looked up to see Kendall's t-shirt stained red, he really started freaking out.

"L-Logan!" Carlos cried, pressing his unhurt hand to his chin. He started squirming and sobbing and Kendall held him down gently.

"Carlos calm down," Kendall said in his soothing voice. He shrugged out of his jacket and pressed the fabric to Carlos' chin to try to slow the bleeding best he could, though it was clear he needed stitches.

"Yeah it's ok buddy. Think kitten thoughts!" James said, trying to help.

"But it h-hurts," Carlos cried, cradling his throbbing wrist. He was a snotty, bloody, feverish mess and it was breaking James' heart. The taller boy climbed into the backseat and gently took Carlos from Kendall so he could rub his back and rock him gently.

"Hey, it's ok little buddy," James whispered. "We're almost to the hospital, ok? We're halfway there."

Carlos sniffled and tried to smile as he half-sang, "'And looking back now I never thought that I'd ever say.'"

"'We're halfway there-ere," Kendall finished with a smile. Leave it to Carlos to try to lighten the mood with a broken limb and a gash on his face.

They finally arrived at the E.R, and Kendall and James assisted Carlos in walking while Logan approached the nurse's office.

"Hi, my friend Carlos Garcia was in a skating accident. He has a broken wrist and he needs stitches," Logan explained quickly. "He's also sick so he might need some antibiotics. My guess is an ear infection. He gets ear infections a lot."

The nurse glanced up and handed Logan a clipboard. "Fill these out and we'll call his name in about 45 minutes," she said in a bored voice, having seen banged up teenagers countless times before. She barely even looked at Carlos.

"Logie," Carlos whined. He didn't really want to wait nearly an hour in this much pain.

"Um, did you see my friend?" Logan asked the nurse, annoyed. "He needs stitches, pain medication-"

'Sir, this is an E.R," the nurse cut in. "Unless it's an emergency, we can't do anything. He'll need to wait his turn."

"Can I at least have some ice?" Carlos squeaked. He hated listening to arguments, especially while he was hurting this much. He would rather just wait in peace and quiet.

But Logan wasn't having any of that. For the first time in his life, Logan wore a truly angry glare in his eyes and actually slammed the clipboard down on the counter, catching the nurse's attention.

"Are you insane?" Logan asked. His voice was loud and firm, but he wasn't out right yelling. "Look at this kid, this is an emergency and we're not going to let him bleed and cry. He's in obvious pain and I refuse to watch my friend suffer while you butts could be helping him!"

Carlos, James and the nurse just stared at Logan while Kendall tried to hide a smirk because he always knew Logan had it in him.

The nurse sighed, realizing that Carlos was bleeding a little too heavily. "Ok, follow me… Carlos?" she asked, and Carlos nodded shyly. She stood up to lead him to a room, but he looked at his friends in panic. No way was he going alone.

"Can Logan come with me?" Carlos asked with a sniffle. He sounded like a 4 year old and the nurse must not have been a complete she-beast because she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Of course he can, sweetie."

"Has anyone ever told you before that you're awesome?" Kendall mumbled in Logan's ear, and Logan smiled, quite proud of his little outburst.

"No but I believe it," he said. "Come on Carlitos, let's get you fixed up." Logan put his hand on the scared boys back and followed the nurse to a small trauma room. Carlos was practically glued to Logan's side on the long walk. He hated hospitals and seeing sick people lying in their beds with doctors working on them. In his imagination, the doctors were all evil, mad scientists and the patients were their experiment victims.

"Ok, go ahead and lie down," the nurse instructed when they reached his room. She gave him a towel to press to his chin, ice for his wrist, and took his temperature.

"What's his fever?" Logan asked as soon as the thermometer beeped.

"One hundred and two exactly," the nurse read. She finally looked a little concerned. "Why would you skate with a high fever Carlos?" She scolded gently.

"It sounded fun," Carlos mumbled. Now that he thought about it, it did seem pretty idiotic to skate when he'd been feeling so dizzy all day. Logan just shook his head exasperatedly.

The nurse left and a doctor came in. He started asking Carlos easy questions to determine if he had a concussion while giving him a quick examination.

"Well it's obvious you broke your wrist, probably just a small fracture, but I'll still have to give you an x-ray to determine how bad of a break it is and where it's at, but my first priority is getting you stitched up. So go ahead and lay back and I'll give you a local anesthetic to numb the area." The doctor left to get the instruments he needed and Carlos grabbed Logan's arm.

"I don't want stitches, Logan!"

"You need them, Carlos. It won't hurt, I promise. He's going to numb it so you won't even feel it."

Carlos saw the doctor coming back with everything he needed to stitch up a wound and started breathing heavily, something he did when he was scared. "Logan, hold my hand!" Carlos stuck out his hand and Logan rolled his eyes.

"Carlos you're 18," Logan said quietly, but the smaller boy whimpered. Logan quickly grabbed his hand. "Fine but this stays in the E.R."

"Is your wrist really hurting you?" The doctor asked, and Carlos nodded. "Ok, I brought you a low dose of morphine so you won't be in pain anymore. It might make you feel a little weird though."

"Morphine? Isn't that a little strong?" Logan asked. He didn't really want to know what Carlos would be like on morphine. It was a general rule that you don't give him pain medication.

"It's a very low dose," the doctor assured Logan. "Just to keep him relaxed because all this will take a while."

Logan cringed when Carlos took the tiny pill. This was going to be fun.

15 minutes later, Carlos was giggling for no reason at all while the doctor instructed him to be quiet and keep his mouth still so he could stich him.

"Carlos, shut up so the doctor can finish," Logan said.

"But the walls are funny Logie!"

"The walls? Carlos!" Logan yelled when the delirious boy tried to get up so he could pet the walls. "This is ridiculous!"

"Just 2 more stitches," the doctor said, trying to hide his annoyance. "Is he always like this?" He asked Logan.

'I don't know, we keep him off any medication," Logan said. "The only cold medicine he's allowed to have is nyquip because it knocks him out."

"I've never seen a patient act this loopy over such a small dose of morphine before."

"I feel so good!" Carlos exclaimed. "Logie, why do I feel weird?"

"You're high, Carlos. Now shut up," Logan said. They managed to keep Carlos quiet for enough time so that the doctor could finish. And for the entire duration of his x-rays, casting, and check up to determine why he had such a high fever, Carlos was completely zoned out. His eyes were glazed over and he just stared at a wall, humming quietly while the doctor worked on him. It was amazing. Logan had never seen Carlos so quiet before and in a couple of hours, Logan was leading a sleepy, stumbling Carlos into the waiting room with a handful of prescriptions.

"Finally, it's been 3 hours- what's up with Carlos?" Kendall asked. The Latino could hardly stand up without assistance and he was pointing at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling with a huge smile and crossed eyes.

"He's high. As a kite," Logan said. "The doctor thought it would be smart to put him on morphine but now he can't function."

"Oh. Is he alright?" Kendall gestured to the yellow cast on Carlos' wrist.

"It's just a small fracture, the cast can come off in 4 weeks. He had to get 5 stitches and he has a double ear infection. Let's get him home- Carlos?" Logan turned to where Carlos had been standing, but the Latino magically vanished.

"He's over there," James said, pointing to the toy box in the corner of the waiting room. "I'll get him. You guys bring the car around." James walked to where Carlos was kneeled on the floor, petting a toy dinosaur and nuzzling it to his chest.

"Um, Carlos? You ok buddy?"

"Fernando likes biscuits," Carlos whispered.

"Awe, that's nice, you named your dinosaur Fernando. Not creepy at all!" James shoved his hands under Carlos' armpits and lifted him to his feet.

"Bye Fernando!" Carlos called with a giggle, and James dragged the loopy boy to the car, where he fell asleep before they left the parking lot.

"Get him in bed," Logan said when they arrived at the Palmwoods parking lot. "I have to go fill his prescriptions."

"Got it. Come on Carlos." James got out of the car and lifted Carlos to his chest so he could carry him to the lobby.

"Um, what's wrong with him?" All 3 Jennifer's asked simultaneously. They were all seated on a couch texting on their phones but they almost looked worried when the boys came in with a sleeping, limp Carlos.

"Ear infection and skating accident," James said, voice a little strained because Carlos was dead weight in his arms and the Latino wasn't light as a feather to begin with.

"Awe," The Jennifer's cooed, than quickly remembered they don't "like" Carlos and followed their brief sympathy with an "ew!" before walking off. (1)

Up in 2j, James laid Carlos in bed, changed him into a clean t-shirt instead of leaving him in his torn and bloody hoodie, than tucked a blanket to his chest before clicking on a nightlight (Carlos was afraid of the dark, especially when he was feverish) and he left the boy to sleep off his medication.

"Well, he's pretty unconscious right now but let's enjoy the peace before he joins the living again," James announced, sitting next to Kendall on the bright orange couch. They played video games for awhile before Logan came in with a bag full of who knows what for Carlos.

"Is Carlos asleep?" Logan asked immediately.

"He's a rock, we haven't heard a peep from him," Kendall said, to which Logan quirked an eyebrow because Carlos was never a quiet patient.

"I better make sure he's not dead," the small brunette said, crawling up swirly.

"Knock-knock," Logan said, entering Carlos' mess of a room.

"Logan?" Carlos croaked.

"Yeah it's me," Logan replied, nearly tripping on a pile of dirty hoodies and jeans. In an attempt to side step the nasty laundry, his stocking feet stepped on a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a paper plate. Carlos giggled because it looked like Logan was doing some kind of weird jig-dance across his room.

"Ugh, Carlos it's no wonder you're sick. It's a germ-harvesting playground in here!" Logan scolded. Carlos just stared up at the young doctor with sleepy, confused eyes. Logan sighed. " I'll clean up later. You need to take your medicine."

"What kind?" Carlos asked, and his voice sounded so raw Logan winced.

"The kind that will make you feel better. Does your throat hurt buddy?"

Carlos nodded and coughed. 'Everything hurts."

Logan hummed in sympathy. "This will make you better. I have Coricidin for your cough, Penicillin for your ear infections, and some prescription strength ibuprofen for your injuries," The doctor in training explained, unloading the prescriptions from the plastic bag he held.

"Ew," Carlos groaned, picking up the bottle of antibiotics. "It's not the pink kind, Logie."

"Carlos, again, you're 18. They make the pink kind for 5 year olds."

"Sorry buddy. But you have to take this if you want to get better." Logan poured some of the thick, whitish liquid into a tiny cup and handed it to Carlos, who stared at it like it was chopped liver.

"Just drink it, Carlos."

"Make me," Carlos squeaked, setting the cup on his bedside table. Logan huffed.

"Carlos, you're sick and weak and injured and I don't want to hurt you so just hold your nose and slurp it down."

Carlos clamped his lips shut so tightly they disappeared completely while shaking his head.

"Carlos, take it!" Logan picked up the cup and put it to Carlos' lips, but Carlos flopped on his stomach and buried his face in his pillow because no way was he drinking that mystery slime. Logan groaned in frustration. Why did Carlos always make such a big extravaganza over everything? It's not that Logan couldn't make Carlos do what he wanted. He just didn't want to use physical force. But Carlos was asking for it now.

"You have a count of 3 before I start using the 'Big Guns,'" Logan warned, patting his biceps. For such a tiny person, he had freakishly large arm muscles. He waited for a reaction from Carlos, but there was none.

"1…."

Carlos just laid there like a log.

"2…"

Carlos tensed, as if he knew Logan was about to attack him.

"3!"

Carlos squealed, holding onto his pillow tightly, and Logan flipped him over easily and held him down by his shoulders. But since Carlos' upper body was incapacitated, he started kicking and flailing his legs everywhere.

"Carlos, quit it-eeee!" Logan squeaked, his eyes widening in pain and his mouth forming a surprised 'O'. Carlos' foot had made forceful contact with Logan's sensitive area no male ever wanted to be kicked at.

"Carlos!" Logan cried after he got his voice back. He coughed and clutched his crotch area as he leaned against the bed, ready to burst into tears.

"Sorry Logie," Carlos said honestly.

'Just take the darned medicine!" Logan said, composing himself. He jumped on top of Carlos, straddling his hips so the hyperactive Latino couldn't kick anymore.

"Don't hurt my wrist!" Carlos cried.

"I'm not going to hurt your wrist! I'm just going to do _this!" _Logan squeezed Carlos' nose shut with one hand while the other held the medicine to his mouth. He had Carlos' good arm locked in between his thigh and Carlos' torso, while the Latino's casted arm pathetically flailed around and smacked Logan lightly every now and then.

"Haha! Any second now!" Logan cheered. Carlos' cheeks were turning purple as he refused to open his mouth and his nose was clamped shut by Logan's thumb and forefinger. "You have to open sometime and when you do, I will be victorious!

"What's all this noise- um?" Kendall walked in and nearly tripped when he saw the odd sight in front of him.

Logan turned around slightly to see his friend at the doorway, staring at them warily. The tall blonde was not expecting to see Logan straddling and basically suffocating a squirming, trapped Carlos. The questionable scene was disconcerting and amusing at the same time.

"Is this weird?" Logan asked with a chuckle, cheeks turning bright red. He hadn't realized what position he and Carlos were in.

"A little bit," Kendall said. Suddenly Carlos gasped for much needed air and Logan used that chance to pour the medicine down Carlos' throat.

"Logan!" Carlos yelled, choking on the liquid. It tasted horrible, like alien goo. Logan just laughed triumphantly.

"Sorry buddy!"

"He's undefeatable when it comes to medication," Kendall said.

"Ok but Logan, can you get off me now?" Carlos asked.

"Oh, right," Logan said, chuckling awkwardly. He swung his leg over Carlos and sat on the edge of the bed. "Cough syrup is next."

Carlos moaned. "Logan! I took one medicine, isn't that enough?"

"Nope. It's cherry flavored though," Logan said, even though it really wasn't.

"Oh. Well if it's cherry, I guess I could choke it down." Carlos took the cup of cough syrup and swallowed it, immediately coughing and sputtering when he discovered it was not cherry. "Ew!"

Kendall laughed, Logan snorted as he tried to hold in his laughter, and Carlos threw death glares at both of them.

"You tricked me!" Carlos whined. Logan shrugged.

"So? It worked," Logan said. "Here, take your ibuprofen and lie down." He handed him a bottle of water and 2 pills, and Carlos took them with no problem because pills have no taste.

"When will this medicine start working? I don't feel good," Carlos complained.

"You need to give it a few minutes, you just took it. Now close your eyes, relax, and you'll fall asleep in no time." Logan tucked a blanket over Carlos and shut off the lights, than stepped out of the room.

"Think he'll be ok?" Kendall asked, shutting Carlos door behind him.

"I think he'll be fine. He's Carlos, after all," Logan said. "We just have an interesting week ahead of us."

The rest of the night was unusually quiet. It was almost too quiet. But since it was midnight when they had finally arrived home from the E.R, James and Kendall had gone to bed as soon as Carlos fell asleep. Logan stayed awake for a couple of hours so he could peak his head into Carlos' room every 15 minutes to make sure the sick boy was ok. It was 2 am before he deemed it safe enough to retire for his room the rest of the night.

"Logie... Logie… Logan? Logie… Logers… Loganator?"

Logan groaned, forcing himself out of a deep sleep. He had only been sleeping an hour or 2 before he heard someone repeating his name over and over in the most annoying way possible.

"What?" Logan groaned, refusing to open his eyes. He was tired and had forgotten for the moment that Carlos was sick.

"I don't feel s'good," Carlos croaked, voice broken because his throat was so swollen.

Logan sat up with a start, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Are you going to throw up?"

"No."

"Ok. Sit down, Carlitos." Logan pulled on Carlos' uninjured arm, and the small, shivering boy immediately curled into his side, looking for the warmth his best friend always provided when he was sick. "What hurts, buddy?"

"My throat and ears," Carlos replied. He started rubbing his neck. "My neck feels weird, too. And my wrist is sore and I'm dizzy."

Logan removed Carlos hand and tenderly pressed on his neck to feel what Carlos was talking about. "Your glands are swollen, buddy. That's ok, it happens when you're sick," he said, massaging them gently to make them a little less painful. "Let's get you back in bed and I'll give you some more pain medicine. How does that sound?" Logan pressed a hand to Carlos' forehead to make sure his fever wasn't speaking. He definitely still had a fever, but it wasn't too high.

"Carlitos?" Logan asked when he didn't get an answer. He looked down to see Carlos fast asleep against his chest.

"Oh, Carlos… Wake up," Logan said, shaking him gently, but Carlos was out like a light. He tried to shimmy away from him, but the sick boy was a dead, heavy weight on him and every time Logan tried to move, Carlos would curl up even tighter. Logan groaned. He didn't have the heart to force Carlos awake, but he didn't want to breathe in his germs all night. He wasn't strong enough to carry him. Only James could carry him more than 2 feet, and he was fast asleep in the other room. He thought of asking Kendall for help, but it would just be mean to wake his friends up over this. He would just have to sleep with a Carlos blanket for one night.

It was actually quite comfortable.

**A/N (1) I honestly believe the Jennifers love Carlos. They seem to do stuff for him all the time. They just won't admit it. So what did you guys think? Good, bad, funny, stupid? Let me know! Reviews are magical seedlings! Love you guys.**


	3. pure chaos

**A/N Hey guys! Thanks for all the awesome reviews! Sorry for the ridiculous waits! For being so patient, I added in some naked Logan for the fun of it. Hope you all enjoy. And just in case, I own nothing.**

Logan woke up in the morning to hysterical laughter and something around his waist.

"What's going on?" He mumbled, opening his eyes to see Kendall hovered over him, taking pictures with his phone. "What the- Carlos!" Logan had been sleeping on his side, and Carlos was pressed up against his back, arm around his chest and leg around his hips. It was just plain awkward.

"Dude this is gold!" Kendall exclaimed, and Logan gave him a death glare.

"You- don't send that to anybody!" Logan hissed. "And Carlos, don't spoon me!" Logan rolled over and pushed Carlos away. Carlos whimpered and hugged a blanket to his chest, but didn't wake up.

"Ugh, why is he so clingy when he's sick" Logan asked. "And why is my neck wet?"

"Carlitos drool," Kendall pointed out.

"Ooohhh! Shower, I need a shower!" Logan ran out of the room, leaving Kendall alone with Carlos. Kendall attempted to sneak away before Carlos would wake up, but he was out of luck.

"Kendall?" Carlos said in a tiny, cracked voice.

"Um, yeah buddy?" Kendall said, than mouthed '_Dang it!'_ He had no clue how to take care of a sick Carlos. That would be Logan's job.

Carlos coughed. "Can I get some water?"

"Sure, yeah, I can do that," Kendall said. "I'll be right back." He headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge and returned to Carlos' room. "Here you go buddy."

"Thanks," Carlos muttered weakly. No sooner than he took 3 little sips, Carlos started throwing up all over his bed without warning while Kendall looked on in shock.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?" The tall blonde asked himself, not really sure what to do besides pat Carlos' shoulder.

"Kendall," Carlos whimpered, looking up at the blonde leader with scared eyes, his poor body trembling from the sudden assault.

"It's ok Carlitos, just… Hold on." Kendall gave his shoulder one last pat and raced out of the room to pound on the bathroom door.

'Logan!"

"What? I'm showering!" Logan's voice yelled, sounding a tad aggravated.

"We need you!" Kendall said, continuing to pound on the door so hard the walls shook.

"You can survive 5 minutes without me!"

"But there's Carlos puke everywhere!" Kendall whined. He heard the shower turn off abruptly and Logan opened the door 15 seconds later, shampoo suds left in his hair and a fluffy white towel around his waist.

"Are you kidding?" Logan asked. "If you are, I'm gonna-" Logan cut off when he heard sickening retching noises coming from Carlos' room, and he ran to comfort the sick boy. "Carlos! It's ok buddy," he cooed, offering a strong hand on his back. Carlos was tearing up when he finally finished heaving, and he looked at Logan with glassy eyes that read "Help me."

"Ok, Kendall, take him downstairs to the couch and clean him up, change his shirt. I'll clean this up. Where's James? I need James' help," Logan said, going into Jr. Doctor mode.

"Downstairs bathroom," Kendall said, pulling Carlos to his feet and grabbing a clean shirt.

"Well get his butt up here," Logan instructed, getting started on changing the sheets. Kendall took Carlos to the living room and a few minutes later, James appeared.

"Is Carlos ok?" James asked, concerned. "He's crying on the couch."

Logan sighed. 'He'll be fine. You know Carlos, he has to do everything over the top and that includes getting sick. Just help me change these sheets so I can get down there and take care of him. I'm gonna go get dressed really quick."

"Sure," James said, although he had a different plan in mind. He was, after all, a prankster and Logan in nothing but a towel was impossible to resist.

"Naked Logie!" James shrieked, reaching behind the small brunette and snatching his towel. He took off in a run and Logan whipped around.

"Huh?" He asked, confused. He saw a flash of James bolting out of the room with something white in his hands, and he looked down to discover he was stark naked.

"JAMES!" Logan roared, outraged. His first reaction was to maul James, so he chased after him down swirly and into the living room. "Give it, James!"

"Haha! Come and get me!" James taunted, laughing his ridiculous laugh.

"Whoa!" Kendall yelled, mock covering Carlos' eyes. The sick boy had stopped crying immediately and started laughing as soon as he caught a glimpse of Logan's situation.

"James! Now is not the time for your idiocy!" Logan cried, a scarlet color creeping its way over his chest and face. He was obviously deeply embarrassed, and he grabbed a couch pillow to cover himself up.

"Ew! Now we have to burn the pillow" James joked, and the chase resumed.

"James you suck! Aah! My eyes! Soap in my eyes!" Logan shrieked at an almost inhuman decibel. The leftover shampoo was starting to drip into his eyes, and he stopped running so he could hold the pillow with one hand while wiping his eyes with the other. "It burns guys!"

"James, hasn't he had enough?" Kendall asked, laughing so hard he was crying while Carlos was literally rolling on the carpet, cracking up.

"Oh, I guess so," James said in a sing-song voice. He handed Logan the towel but not before snapping his bare little white bottom with it first. Logan yelped and snatched the towel, wrapping it around his waist.

"What the heck James!" Logan scolded. He didn't find this funny at all. "Why'd you do that?"

James shrugged. "To cheer Carlitos up," he said simply, gesturing to the still giggling boy on the floor.

"Oh," Logan muttered. Carlos did look a lot better. "Just go take Carlos' sheets and put them in the wash and put clean ones on his bed while I dress." Logan went to his room, still embarrassed. He really needed new friends.

After he rinsed his hair and eyes and dressed in jeans and a vintage t-shirt, Logan went downstairs to check on Carlos.

"How are you feeling Carlitos?" He asked softly, feeling the Latino's forehead. He was still quite warm.

"My ears hurt," Carlos whined.

"And your stomach?"

"It's sore, but I'm not throwing up anymore."

"Good, and we're going to keep it that way. Nothing but dry toast, saltines, and ginger ale all day," Logan said. Carlos' eyes widened.

"No corndogs?" The little ball of energy squeaked.

"Um, no!" Logan said, exasperated. "That will make you sicker. Come on, open up, I need to take your temperature."

"Not the kind under my tongue," Carlos whined when he saw Logan hold up the skinny device.

"But the kind I stick in your ear will only hurt you right now," Logan said. He shoved the thermometer under Carlos' tongue, and he glared at Logan.

"Beep!" Carlos told the thermometer, and Logan gave his shoulders a small shove.

"Shut it for 30 seconds, Carlos." Finally, the thermometer beeped and Logan removed it from Carlos' mouth. "One-oh-two point four. That worries me, Carlitos." The sick boy's temperature was too high for Logan's liking, and he got a cold washrag to rest on Carlos' forehead before administering his medication.

"Ew," Carlos said.

"No, you're not playing this game again," Logan scolded. "Just take it and wash it down with water."

Carlos pouted but took the medicine anyway. He was too weak to fight.

"Logan, help!" James suddenly yelled from the 2nd floor balcony, and the young doctor looked up to see panic written all over the pretty boys face.

"Not now!" Logan said, pouring antibiotics into a cup for Carlos. "Kendall, go see what he wants. Knowing him, he probably spilled his shampoo or something."

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Kendall said, saluting. He went up swirly and a minute later he was calling for Logan with James. Logan sighed in frustration.

"What, guys?"

"There's soap all over!" Kendall said. "The washer exploded!"

"What?" Logan roared, making Carlos recoil. "Sorry buddy," he said quietly. Carlos just whimpered.

"My ears hurt, Logan."

"I know, but the ibuprofen should kick in soon. Just try to sleep and I'll be right back." Logan tucked a blanket around Carlos' shoulders and climbed up swirly.

"What is going on- oof!" Logan yelled. He had run into the laundry room, skidded on the soapy floor, and fell right on his back. Ow!"

"Sorry Logan!" James and Kendall said simultaneously, hauling him to his feet by his wrists.

"James what did you do?" Logan groaned. The washer was overflowing with bubbles and water. "I said put the sheets in the wash, not turn it on!"

"I was just trying to help!" James defended himself. He really was trying to help out Logan, but Logan was red with anger.

"Go to your rooms, now!" The smaller boy ordered, getting on his knees so he could unplug the shaking washer.

"Um, really?' Kendall said. Logan succeeded in unplugging the machine and stood up to glare at the guilty boys.

"Yes! Really!" He said.

"But my room stinks like Carlos' insides," James said, and Logan made a grossed out face before shoving James from the cramped, wet room.

"Go, now!"

"Eek! Ok!" James said, running into Kendall's room.

"Ugh!" Logan exclaimed, grabbing a mop from the closet and sopping the mess up. Sometimes he simply couldn't take the craziness his friends always came up with. They could at least clean up properly.

"Logan!" Carlos cried from downstairs on the couch.

"I'll be right with you!" Logan yelled back.

"But I'm lonely!"

"I know buddy but you need to wait." Logan took a full bucket of mop water to a window and dumped it out, not even looking where he was throwing. He heard screams of anger and quickly closed the window before anyone could see that it was Logan who dumped water on them. Then he went back to the laundry room and sopped up the rest of the mess with a couple towels before calling Buddha Bob to fix the washer.

When Logan finally went downstairs, Carlos was fast asleep, snoring and cuddling with his old stuffed bunny that his Papi gave him many years ago. Logan smiled to himself. At least someone was peaceful.

But the peace didn't last long. No sooner than Logan had made himself a sandwich did Carlos wake up with a hacking coughing fit. Logan forgot about his sandwich and ran to Carlos' aide, lifting the boy into a sitting position and patting his back until the coughing finally ceased. Carlos leaned into Logan's chest.

'I don't feel good," he whined.

"You'll feel better in a couple days, just hang in there. Do you want me to put in a movie for you?" Logan asked. Carlos nodded. "Ok, which one?"

Carlos thought a moment. "The Little Mermaid!"

Logan arched an eyebrow. "Really, Carlos?"

Carlos shrugged. "It makes me happy."

Logan grinned and shook his head, starting the movie for his sick friend. "Ok, can I get you anything?"

"Chocolate pudding!" Carlos exclaimed, but Logan shook his head.

"I don't think so, bud. If you're hungry I can get you some crackers, but not pudding. I don't even think we have any in the fridge."

Carlos pouted and folded his hands. "Please Logan? It's not even solid, my stomach can handle it. Please can you get me some pudding cups?"

"It's raining Carlos, I don't think so. You don't need pudding."

"Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaasiiiieee?" Carlos drawled.

Logan shook his head, hoping he could get away with being the firm dad this time. But 10 more seconds of looking at Carlos' puppy dog eyes was all it took for him to cave. "Fine, I'll be back in 20 minutes," he grumbled. Logan grabbed his keys and drove in the rain to the nearest market for several packs of pudding cups, because he knew he needed to buy some for Kendall and James too. By the time Logan got back to the apartment he looked like a shivering, wet dog with his dark hair plastered to his forehead.

"Thanks Logan!" Carlos cooed, grabbing the bag of pudding from his friend's hands.

"Ah-ah-ah, one cup for now," Logan said, giving him one cup and a spoon. "Eat it slowly." Logan put the rest of the pudding in the fridge and went upstairs to go change out of his wet clothes and see what Kendall and James was doing. He was going to apologize at them for snapping at them earlier but when he heard loud banging coming from his and Kendall's room, he burst in angrily.

"Guys! What are you doing?" He yelled, though it was pretty clear what they were doing. James and Kendall were jumping back and forth onto both beds, trying to see who could make the coolest rock star pose in mid-air. Logan's yell had taken James by surprise and the tall brunette lost his balance and fell to the floor, hitting his head on the bedpost. Logan smacked his own forehead with his palm.

"James, are you ok?" He asked. James popped up to his feet and wobbled dizzily. He already had a bump forming above his left eyebrow. Logan sighed while Kendall laughed. "I'll go get the ice." Logan left to get an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in a towel and gave it to James. "You guys go downstairs and check on Carlos. I need to remake my bed now, thanks to you guys."

"Sorry Logan!" Kendall said, patting the smaller boy's hair as they left the room. Logan made his bed, than finished making Carlos' bed because no way was Carlos sleeping in his room again.

Logan was expecting to find the 3 boys watching the movie downstairs, laughing and maybe eating some snacks. But no, there was a full-on pudding chugging contest going on. Logan scowled and ripped a cup of pudding away from Carlos, who grinned up at him with a chocolaty smile.

"What are you guys thinking? You're gonna get sick, Carlos!" Logan said.

"It's just pudding," James said, and Logan shot him a glare that said 'shut up'.

The small genius gathered up the empty pudding cups and threw them away, than got a roll of paper towels and a bucket. He cleaned Carlos' face off and handed him the bucket.

"What's this for?" Carlos asked, confused.

"For when you puke from all the pudding," Logan said.

"But I don't want to puke," Carlos said, pouting.

"Well you should have thought of that before you chugged 5 cups of pudding. Now I don't want you doing anything else but laying here watching a movie, understood?"

"I don't want to watch a movie, I want to play a video game," Carlos said.

"Sorry, you can't play video games today. Not with a broken wrist. But I'll play a board game with you."

Carlos' eyes lit up like the 4th of July at that idea, bouncing to his feet. "I'll get the game!"

"No, you rest," Logan said, pushing him to the couch gently. "I'll get the game." He went to the game closet to get "Mouse Trap", Carlos' favorite game, and they played a couple rounds of it.

"Booyah! Check who wins again!" Logan boasted after round 3, pumping his fist in the air. But instead of Carlos hitting him in the face with a pillow like he did the last 2 times, the Latino was staring at the wall, holding his middle. His mouth formed a tight line and his skin was a pale gray.

"Carlos? You don't look so good," Logan said while rubbing the boy's back. "You ok?"

"My tummy hurts," Carlos whimpered, falling onto his side and curling up into a tiny ball. Logan frowned, feeling bad for his little friend. Just because he was dumb and ate some pudding didn't mean he deserved to be this miserable.

Logan wrapped Carlos in a fluffy blanket and continued to rub his back. Even though he was an aspiring doctor, there wasn't much he could do for his ill friend. The nausea would just have to pass on its own.

"I don't wanna throw up," Carlos whined, burying his face into the couch.

"It's ok if you do, it will make you feel better," Logan said. It seemed to him like Carlos was fighting against throwing up. He kept swallowing hard and his mouth was clamped shut tightly. Logan lifted Carlos into a sitting position, put a bucket between his knees, then made Carlos slightly lean over it.

"No Logan, I don't wanna," Carlos whined.

"If it needs to come out, it's going to come out. You'll feel better once it's out of your system." Logan said. He rubbed small circles on Carlos' back to relax him, and finally he threw up all the chocolate pudding he had scarfed down that afternoon.

The worst part of being an aspiring doctor, Logan thought, was pretending that things like blood or vomit didn't bother him, because it really did. It made him squeamish and nauseous whenever he had to deal with that kind of stuff, but he always sucked it up for his friend's sake.

Logan removed the bucket and cleaned up Carlos' face before laying him back down on the couch with his blanket. Carlos fell right to sleep, so Logan took the break to clean up and then make some pasta and vegetables for his healthy friends.

"Hey where's Carlitos?" James asked, bounding into the kitchen where Logan was draining the noodles and preparing the tomato sauce.

"Sleeping on the couch, so be quiet. Here, butter this for garlic bread," Logan said, handing him a loaf of French bread. James took it and sat down to help Logan. It took the smaller boy a few minutes to realize James was staring at him.

"Um, why are you staring at me James?"

"You look pale," James said outright. "And you're moving a lot slower than normal. Are you alright?"

Logan shrugged, stirring the sauce absentmindedly. "It's been a long day. I'm just tired."

"Logan, tell the truth," James said, knowing that Logan had a habit of taking care of his friends better than he did himself. He was starting to worry that Logan was starting to catch what Carlos did.

Logan smiled a little. It was hard to hide anything from his friends. They were idiots, but they were observant. He never would realize what a watchful eye they kept on him until they noticed little things that he himself never noticed. Like how fast he usually prepared dinner compared to his slow motion movements tonight, or how whenever he was coming down with something he would rub his temple every now and then.

"I'm feeling a little run-down, but it's no big deal," Logan admitted.

"Do you want me to take over dinner?" James offered. "Because I can, I learned chicks dig cooks so I've been learning how."

"Oh, really? And what have you learned to cook?" Logan asked.

"Grilled cheese," James said, grinning proudly. Logan chuckled.

"I've got this, bud. Thanks though," Logan said. Honestly, all he really wanted to do was lie down and pass out. He had a headache all day and it was starting to get on his nerves, but since it was his job to take care of his friends, he continued to cook dinner.

After dinner, the boys all joined Carlos on the couch in a stuffed, tired heap and turned on a hockey game. James and Kendall soon forgot about their full stomachs and started getting into the game (quietly, as to not wake Carlos), but Logan realized that his stomach wasn't so much full as it was a bit nauseous. It was starting to churn uncomfortably, while his head felt weird and his throat more than a bit scratchy.

Logan curled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them. He wasn't feeling too good, and he only hoped he wasn't coming down with something.

**A/N Oh no, now Logan's sick! Now who's gonna take care of Carlitos? Thanks for reading! I'll be updating this, Mystery Of You and The Angels Within Us asap! Sorry for the darned waits! Please review. Love ya'll!**


	4. Patient Logan, doctor JamesKendall

**A/N Thanks for the reviews guys! Hope you like this!**

Logan woke up in a groggy state after not even realizing he had fallen asleep. He remembered sitting down to watch a game with the guys and after that it was black. He groaned in pain at the crick in his neck from sleeping in such an awkward position on the couch.

"Ugh, what time is it?" Logan asked to whoever was sitting next to him.

"Almost midnight. You were out like a light!" James said, ruffling Logan's hair. The sweet gesture made Logan wince in pain. His entire body ached and the tummyache he fell asleep with was much worse now, not to mention the scratch in his throat and the pain in his head. His cheeks felt uncomfortably hot.

"My stomach hurts," Logan blurted without meaning to. He just really didn't feel good right now. He felt more sympathy than ever for Carlos because he wouldn't wish this on anyone.

"You alright?" Kendall asked, leaning forward to study his smaller friend. Logan looked quite pale with a flush of red along his cheekbones. He held his stomach protectively and his eyes were glassy with fever.

"I don't know, I think I'm sick. But I can't be, not while Carlos is sick. That's impossible," Logan said.

"Well you look and sound terrible," James said, resting his palm on Logan's forehead. "You have a fever, buddy."

Logan moaned, face-planting onto James lap. How could this have happened? Logan rarely got sick. He had to take care of poor Carlos and all he wanted was to sleep under a rock. But speaking of Carlos, where was the ill Latino?

"Guys, where's Carlitos?" Logan mumbled into James' jeans. James ran his fingers through Logan's raven tufts of hair.

"Relax, I put him to bed a couple hours ago," James assured him.

"Ugh, I gotta go check on him," Logan said, attempting to get to his feet. James shoved him back down on the couch a little painfully.

"Ouchies," Logan squeaked.

"Carlos is fine for now, you need to rest," James said in his best "stern" voice. He'd never admit it but he loved when Logan was sick just so he could be all bossy and protective. That and he loved babying the kid to death.

Suddenly, heart breaking cries could be heard from Carlos' room. Logan got to his feet and swayed dizzily but he ignored it. Something was definitely wrong. The boys ran faster than they ever had before to get to Carlos' room and comfort him.

They were expecting to have to clean up some throw-up or talk him through a nightmare, but instead they flipped on the lights to see blood pouring out of Carlos' chin, through his fingers, and onto the pillow. Carlos was absolutely confused and in pain.

"His stitches broke," Logan said, immediately realizing what happened. He grabbed a handful of tissues and pressed them to Carlos' chin.

"It hurts Logie," Carlos whimpered.

"I know buddy, come on we have to get you to the hospital," Logan instructed.

"You aren't going anywhere," Kendall told Logan.

"What? He's losing too much blood we have to go now," Logan said.

'"Dude you can hardly stand up," Kendall said. "James, you take Carlitos to the hospital. Logan, you're coming with me to bed."

"What's wrong with Logan?" Carlos asked, ignoring his throbbing chin for the moment. Logan didn't look very good anymore.

"He's sick," James said. "Come on, let's get you fixed up."

"But Logan-" Carlos started.

"We'll check on Logan when we come home, he'll be fine," James said, taking Carlos' hand and leading him away.

"Kendall," Logan whined. "Carlos needs me."

"You need rest. You look like a zombie." The leader felt Logan's forehead and Logan ducked away shyly. "And you're burning up. Let's go." Kendall took Logan completely by surprise by wrapping his arms around his waist and scooping him up over his shoulder so he could carry him to his room and dump him on his bed, than tucked him in so tightly he couldn't move if he wanted to.

"I hate you," Logan moaned, too weak to fight. Kendall located a thermometer and put it under Logan's tongue, embracing this whole doctor thing. It was kind of fun. Plus, he knew that Logan was horribly shy and hated attention when he was sick and he enjoyed torturing the poor boy.

"One oh one point four. Someone's a little germy fellow," Kendall said. "Do you want any Tylenol or Nyquip?"

"Nyquip," Logan croaked. Kendall brought him the bottle and served him a small cup, than gave him a drink of water.

"I don't want you up from this bed for the rest of the night, understand me?" Kendall asked.

"But-"

"Logie, please just listen to me for once?"

Logan sighed. Kendall knew that whenever he wanted his way, all he had to do was use Logan's endearing nickname. "Fine, but I want to know how Carlos is doing as soon as he comes home, even if it means you have to wake me up."

"Deal," Kendall said. "Sleep now." He ruffled Logan's hair and turned off the lights, than waited downstairs for James to come home with Carlos.

An hour later, James carried in a sleeping Carlos and laid him gently on the couch. The Latino looked peaceful but absolutely exhausted.

"How's he doing?" Kendall asked, checking Carlos' head for fever. He felt warmer than he had earlier this evening.

"He's ok now, doctor gave him something to knock him right out and stitched him back up. We just have to make sure Carlos doesn't sleep on his stomach anymore to avoid ripping them again. How's Logan?"

"Stubborn as usual, but he didn't put up to much of a fight. He must be really sick."

"So what are we going to do for the next week?" James said. "I mean, none of us have been sick at the same time Logan was. How are we going to handle taking care of Carlos who's like a 2 year old when he's sick, while trying to keep Logan down and take care of him at the same time?"

"We can do this," Kendall said, though he wasn't very confident for once. This was going to be a toughie.

**A/N I just had to do some cute Kogan! Thanks for reading and please review, it makes me feel like I didn't completely bomb! Have a great weekend love ya'll!**


	5. fevers and wrinkles

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews everyone! I love you all! All of my readers rock! Now who want's some Logie whump!**

Logan woke up in a cold sweat the next morning. He was so _freezing_, like someone dumped him in a vat of ice, and the only part of his body that was hot was his face, which felt like it was burning. He was shaking so hard it was starting to hurt.

'_Carlos'_ was Logan's first thought through the pain. Memories of last night flooded him. Carlos was sick and in pain and what was he doing, lazing in bed.

With a grunt and a great heave of strength, Logan swung his legs over the side of his bed and stumbled to his feet. His head spun with dizziness and his legs felt like jello. Without a doubt, he had a high fever. But so did Carlos and that's what mattered. He had to check on him.

Unfortunately, Logan only made it as far as the hallway before collapsing to his knees, his head swimming so fast he could barely see what was in front of him. The small boy's legs were so weak that they couldn't hold his weight. When he tried to stand back up, he just faltered and felt right back down.

"Oh my God, Logan!" Kendall cried when he heard a bang on the 2nd floor balcony. He had looked up to see Logan try to get to his feet, only to collapse to the floor. "I'm coming buddy!" He said, running up swirly. He shoved his arms underneath Logan's back and knees and lifted him gently.

"Carlos," Logan groaned, gesturing feebly to the Latino's room.

"Carlos isn't in there, he's on the couch and he's sleeping," Kendall said, carrying Logan to his room. He was going to put Logan in his bed, but he saw it was soaked with sweat. So was Logan himself. His dark hair was matted over his eyes as opposed to its usual spikey style and his clothes were seeped with the salty liquid. Kendall realized quickly that Logan was very sick, even more so then Carlos.

"Buddy, how are you feeling?" Kendall asked, his stomach knotting with worrying. He placed him gently on his own bed and went through drawers, looking for a fresh pair of pajamas for the ill boy to wear.

"I'm f-freezing," Logan whimpered. Kendall came over and placed a hand on his forehead. Logan's skin was ablaze with a raging fever.

"Oh, Logan. You're really sick," Kendall said. "Let's get you out of your wet clothes." Kendall helped Logan dress in fleece pajamas, than carried him downstairs and dropped him in an unsuspecting James' lap.

"Whoa-Logan, you ok? " James asked, but Logan was unresponsive. He just curled into the stronger boy's chest, wishing he could just fall back to sleep. But his friends wouldn't allow him that luxury. He was vaguely aware of someone forcing pills and water into his mouth and a thermometer under his tongue.

"I've never seen Logan like this before," James said nervously, watching the pale boy sleep against his chest. He was afraid to move and accidently wake him. He needed to sleep, desperately. His fever was over one hundred four and even James knew that was bad. Just then, a tiny moan could be heard from beside James on the couch and Carlos poked his face out of the heap of blankets he was hidden under. To an outsider, it would of just look like a pile or blankets and pillows and not realize an actual person was in there.

"Hey Carlos, how you feeling?" James asked.

"Tired," Carlos replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Why does Logie look dead?"

"He has a flu of some sort," Kendall replied, bringing Carlos a small plate of fruit and a glass of water. "Eat up buddy, so you can take your medicine."

Carlos pushed his bananas and strawberries away as a thought suddenly dawned on his feverish mind. "Did I make him sick?"

"Well, no," Kendall said for the Latino's benefit even though he probably was the reason why Logan was sick. It's not like it was his fault, though. "Please eat, Carlitos? I made your favorite."

"My tummy hurts," Carlos complained. Just the sight of food made him feel pukey.

"Come on, you have to. You can't take medicine on an empty stomach, that's what Logan says. Just eat a few banana pieces?"

Carlos scowled at his food, than looked to Logan. He knew that if Logan was awake right now, he would be shoving the cut up fruit inside his jaw and then force him to drink the nasty medicine. "Fine, I'll eat some." Carlos slowly ate some banana and even a couple pieces of strawberries, realizing that the precious fuel made him feel a bit better. Than he took the medicine Kendall measured out for him and let the blonde take his temperature.

"Who knew you were a doctor," Carlos said when the thermometer beeped.

"Yeah, who knew," Kendall mumbled, reading the little device. "One-oh-two point three. That's pretty high, bud. We need to get your fever down a bit."

"But how do we do that, besides the medicine the doctor gave him. I don't know what to do about fevers," James stated.

"I remember Logan said something about luke-warm baths helping. I can give him a bath. He needs one anyway."

"Yeah, you smell dude," James teased. Carlos pouted and slapped James' bicep.

"I just wanna sleep," Carlos said.

"I'll put in some bubbles," Kendall said, watching Carlos' eyes light up. "Let's go."

"Carry me," Carlos said, using his puppy dog eyes full-force and out-stretching his arms.

"Really?" Kendall asked, narrowing his eyes. But Carlos just looked too cute, so he leaned down and lifted him easily off of the couch. "I'm never carrying anyone ever again after this week." He took Carlos upstairs and ran a bath for his friend, than poured tons of bubbles in the warm water.

"Ok, get in and stay there for 15 minutes," Kendall said, helping Carlos undress to his skivvies. He then set a fresh pair of clothes for him on the counter. "Call me in if you need help."

Carlos peered into the bath water. He was delighted to see hundreds of fluffy bubbles but something was missing. "Where are my bath toys?"

Kendall rolled his eyes and threw a shark that squirted water into the tub. Carlos giggled and went to jump into the water, but Kendall grabbed him.

"Carlos, take off your underwear first- whoa! Wait til I'm out of the room, sheesh." Kendall quickly left before he saw something he didn't want to see.

Meanwhile, James was still on the couch, holding Logan like he was a little baby. Whenever he tried to set him down, Logan would let out a pitiful whimper and hang onto James' neck tightly. Talk about Carlos being clingy when he was sick, good grief.

Kendall came down swirly with a wet rag in his hands and placed it on Logan's forehead. "How's he doing?"

"The same. Do you think we should take him to the doctor?"

"Maybe, if we can't get his fever down. But Logan said that sometimes you just have to let a fever run its course and keep the patient well rested and hydrated, so let's just do that for now." Kendall sat down, already feeling exhausted with worry. No wonder Logan got sick, taking care of people and fretting over them took a lot out of a person.

"Hockey game is on," James said, reaching for the television remote and flipping it on.

"Cool," Kendall said, eyes already glued to the game.

An hour later, Logan stirred awake and stretched out on James' lap. James winced, as his lap had fallen asleep with the dead weight of Logan and was now tingling immensely.

"Logan, you alright?" Kendall asked, touching Logan's forehead. The poor boy was still a sweaty feverish mess. He coughed and buried his face into James' shoulder, seeking comfort.

"I'm thirsty," he said after a moment, finally unsticking himself from James' chest and trying to stand up so he could get a bottle of water.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" James asked, pulling the boy back down as much as he wanted to free his legs for a bit.

"Yeah, we forbid you to get up. I'll bring you some water," Kendall said. He left to grab a water bottle from the fridge.

"How's Carlos?" Logan asked when Kendall was heading back to the couch. The blonde's eyes went wide with panic and James turned to him, trying not to freak out. Carlos was still in the bathtub, pruning away for all they knew.

"You forgot about him?" James mouthed.

Kendall threw the water bottle to James and ran up swirly and James laughed nervously, handing Logan the bottle.

"Oh, he's sleeping in bed," James said, hoping Logan didn't suspect anything. Luckily, the younger boy was to out of it to notice anything was up.

"Carlitos!" Kendall hissed, barging into the bathroom. The poor kid was snoring loudly, literally covered head to toe with what was left of the bubbles. Kendall swiped some bubbles off of his hair and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around the sick boy's shivering body and pulling him out. "Oh buddy I am so sorry!"

"Huh?" Carlos wondered, barely half awake, and Kendall had to hold him up until he regained strength in his legs. "Kendall, I feel sick."

"Like, throw up sick?" Kendall asked.

"Mmhmm," Carlos mumbled, and Kendall dragged him to a toilet just in time for the smaller boy to vomit his breakfast. Kendall cringed. He loved Carlos, but he was sick of dealing with his body projectile. Kendall wiped Carlos' mouth and dressed him quickly before taking him downstairs. He figured it would be much easier to keep both patients on the same floor, particularly the one with the kitchen and entertainment.

"Carlos threw up," Kendall informed James.

"Aw, you ok buddy?" James asked as Carlos flopped on the couch next to him.

"Not really, I don't feel good. And my skin is all wrinkly. Did you guys forget about me?"

"What? No!" Kendall lied. "Wrinkly skin is good for you. It takes the germs away."

Logan groaned. "You guys are idiots."

**A/N Haha. Ok so I saw the preview for BTRocker and I'm so excited for a new episode I could just pogostick all day! Plus, I'm uber excited for that concert thing they're doing for worldwide day of play. Heck yes! Thanks for reading and reviews are rainbowed trolls! **


	6. fruit smackers and chipmunks

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites! I appreciate it more than you know!**

It was late afternoon and Carlos and Logan were fast asleep on the orange sectional laying feet-to-feet. Kendall and James watched them warily, expecting one of them to puke everywhere or something. It had been a few hours since the bathtub incident and both boys had fallen into a deep sleep.

Carlos was definitely doing worse after being left in the tub for so long. He shivered endlessly, no matter what James did. The little Latino looked like a freaking Eskimo, wrapped in his fur coat, 3 blankets, and 2 of James' favorite, warmest scarves.

"His fingers are cold," James said touching Carlos' curled up hand that popped out of his blanket burrito. James ran to the hall closet, pulled out a pair of mittens, and slid them gently on Carlos' hands. Kendall watched James work on his patient with an arched eyebrow (yes, they assigned Carlos and Logan as _patients. _James took Carlos and Kendall took Logan. They would trade when they got bored)

"Are you sure Carlitos is comfortable?" Kendall asked, watching the mound of blankets shake. You could barely even see Carlos under there. "His forehead is sweating."

"Dang it!" James said as he wiped Carlos forehead soothingly. His usually spikey hair clung to his face in wet strands. The kid was a mess. He was covered in drool and snot. It wasn't a pleasant sight. "I don't know what to do with a sick kid! This is what moms are for."

"I know!" Kendall agreed. He was already stressed out and anxious and it had only been a day. These boys showed no sign of improving anytime soon, and he wasn't sure how much more he could take of this.

"Hey, what's wrong with yours?" James asked, noticing how Logan started kicking his legs and fussing in his sleep.

"Oh, shoot," Kendall said, rushing to Logan's side so he could rub the sick boys back in gentle circles. "Logie, hey it's ok," he soothed, but Logan started whimper and thrash around, kicking Carlos in the shins.

"Don't let him wake Carlos up," James warned, then started softly singing a lullaby in Carlos' ear when his patient started to stir.

"Logan, wake up," Kendall said, sitting down so he could pull the smaller boy into his lap. Logan refused to wake, though. Whatever nightmare he was going through had him in a firm grasp, and Kendall could only hold him and struggle to soothe him until he finally woke up on his own.

"Chipmunks!" Logan screamed, jumping awake with a start. He looked around the room with wide, frightened eyes and Kendall bit back the urge to laugh.

"Chipmunks? Logan, what kind of dream were you having?" Kendall asked. Logan looked at him with scared, feverish eyes. Kendall felt sympathy for his younger friend. Ever since they were little, Logan suffered from nightmares, especially when he was sick. It was sad that he never grew out of them, but at the same time, it was amusing.

"They were everywhere," Logan said sleepily, relaxing into Kendall's hold. "With little, pointy teeth and sharp claws." Logan held up his hand to demonstrate. Kendall giggled at Logan's display.

"Maybe you should go back to sleep, bro," Kendall suggested. Logan shook his head wildly, which made him sway in Kendall's arms a bit.

"No, no way- whoa, what did you guys do to Carlos?" Logan asked, catching glimpse of Carlos wrapped in layers of winter clothing.

"He's cold," James said simply.

"James!" Logan scolded. Raising his voice caused a short coughing fit. Kendall started to pat his back, but he slithered out of Kendall's grasp and stumbled over to Carlos.

"Logan! Get back here!" Kendall said, trying to pull Logan back to his lap.

"No, Carlos is miserable," Logan said, unraveling his poor friend. "When someone has a fever, you need to keep them moderately warm, not keep them in an oven. That just makes it worse. Chills are just a normal sign of the body fighting an infection, no amount of blankets are going to help that."

"I was just trying to help," James said softly. He honestly didn't know that he was only making it worse. Logan recognized a bit of hurt in his voice and realized he spoke a bit colder than he had meant to.

"I know, it's ok," Logan said. "Just stick to one blanket, ok buddy? And no scarves, either."

James smiled sheepishly and nodded. Kendall snatched Logan up and laid him back down.

"You aren't allowed to get up," Kendall said, waving his finger in Logan's face as if he was a baby. "Do I need to handcuff you to the couch? Cause I'll do it." Kendall suddenly pulled out a pair of toy handcuffs from his pocket.

"Why do you carry handcuffs with you?" Logan asked, just a bit concerned.

Kendall looked slightly uncomfortable for a second before saying, "None of your business. It's medicine time." The taller boy administered Logan some nyquip and a glass of water, than covered him up with a blanket. Logan smiled a little, already feeling tired.

"You make a good doctor, Kendall," Logan said. "James, we still have to work on."

"Hey!" James said, offended. Kendall chuckled and stroked Logan's hair until he was sound asleep again, which only took a few moments.

"Since you're such a horrible doctor, why don't you go make yourself useful and get us a bucket of chicken?" Kendall teased, throwing the pretty boy the keys to the BTRMobile. James scowled and caught the keys.

"Fine, if you think you can handle both of them by yourself," James shot back.

"Dude, it's only for 30 minutes. I think I'll be ok," Kendall said. James scoffed, muttered "whatever" and walked out the door.

Kendall watched the boys sleep for about 10 minutes before getting bored. They were completely knocked out and it wasn't much fun watching Carlos drool and Logan snore exceptionally loud. He decided to take advantage of both of them sleeping and take a shower before they woke up and more chaos took place.

He didn't even take a long shower, just a quick one so he could wash his hair and change clothes. He was only gone for 15 minutes at most. But when he came back, he was horrified to see Carlos' spot on the couch empty.

"Hockey pucks!" Kendall swore under his breath, looking around the small apartment desperately with his eyes. He saw the front door was wide open. Carlos got away! Kendall ran towards the door, before remembering that Logan was still in the apartment. He couldn't leave him while he was so sick! But Carlos was lost. He had to go find him.

Kendall spent a good minute running back and forth from the couch to the door before deciding he had to go find where Carlos went. He ran through the halls, checking every closet before slamming into something solid and falling on his butt.

"Dude, what is wrong with you?" James asked, mouth half full with a bite of chicken wing. He held a large bucket of chicken in his arm and stared at Kendall like he was insane for barreling straight into him.

"I lost Carlos!" Kendall said. James reached out a hand and pulled the blonde to his feet.

"You lost Carlos? Kendall, how do you _lose _a full grown person?"

"I dunno, he's just gone! Help me find him?"

James laughed. "Oh, no. You are on your own buddy. This is your fault."

"But James, he's sick and probably not in his right mind. Please?"

James sighed. "Fine, but I'm bringing my chicken."

James and Kendall scoured the Palmwoods for their smallest friend. They finally found him curled up in front of the vending machine in the lobby surrounded by several packets of fruit smackers. He looked so pale, which was an odd sight because he was so naturally tan. It was a very sickly color he had achieved. He was covered in sweat and shivered endlessly, but he was asleep.

"Carlos, what in the world are you doing?" Kendall asked, kneeling beside the Latino and bringing his head in his lap. Carlos stirred and looked up at Kendall with confused eyes.

"Where am I?" Carlos croaked. He didn't feel good. His stomach clenched painfully and he was so weak he could hardly move a muscle. His mind was all gunky feeling, like he couldn't think through the fever that filled it. He didn't even recognize his surroundings. This scared him a bit.

"You're in the lobby," James said cautiously, concerned by how lost his friend looked at the moment. He held up a packet of fruit smackers. "Do these look familiar to you?"

"Oh, yeah," Carlos said, vaguely remembering getting hungry and craving his beloved fruit smackers. He regretted it now though, as his stomach was hurting more than ever. "My tummy hurts."

"Well gummies aren't the best things to eat on an upset stomach," James said gently. He handed Kendall the bucket of chicken and gathered Carlos into his arms, surprised by how light he was feeling all of a sudden, like his illness was causing him to lose weight rapidly. "Let's get you home, buddy."

James carried Carlos up to the apartment. Kendall opened the front door to find Logan on all 4's on the floor, vomiting violently. His entire body shook with tremors and tiny whimpers could be heard between each heave. Kendall's heart broke when Logan looked up with glassy, tear-filled eyes and said the blondes name in a tiny, broken voice. Kendall ran to Logan's aide, rubbing his back as he threw up one last time.

"I'm sorry," Logan said, his pale cheeks turning a bright red when he saw the mess he had made. "I tried to make it to the bathroom but I fell."

"It's ok, you didn't mean to. You can't control this stuff," Kendall said, letting Logan cry on his shoulder for a moment before lifting him up and sitting him on the couch.

"Where did you go? Why did you leave me?" Logan asked, and he hated how much he sounded like a little child. Needy and dependent, something Logan always prided himself on _not _being. But he couldn't help it, he felt so sick. He wasn't used to being the one who needed taking care of.

"We just left for a second to get chicken," Kendall lied, warning James with his eyes to hush up when the brunette looked ready to spill the beans to Logan. "But I'm not leaving you again, ok? You rest for a moment, I'm going to go clean up your… You know. James, come here."

James gave him a questioning look, tucked Carlos in, and kneeled beside Kendall where he was already cleaning up the mess. "Carlos is doing worse, Kendall. He's burning up."

"We can't tell Logan, though. He'll freak. We can't tell him what happened either. He needs to rest and not worry about anything."

"But I'm starting to freak out," James said. "I'm afraid we're just making things worse, not better."

"We can do this," Kendall said, though he didn't quite believe his own words. "This will pass soon."

"Yeah, and Carlos and Logan will be in their coffins."

"Dude, uncalled for!" Kendall said, whacking James upside the head with his arm. "Have a little faith. We kinda screwed up today but from now on, we are going to be serious about this and get them healthy. Ok?"

"'_Kinda' _screwed up? We left Carlos in frigid water and then we lost him, and Logan got sick and we weren't there for him when he needed us. We can't even lower their fevers or make them comfortable. We need help," James said.

"No, we are adults and we can handle this," Kendall said, stubborn as ever.

"Kendall?" Logan moaned, peering over the back of the couch.

"Yeah buddy?" Kendall asked, finishing cleaning the vomit.

"What're you guys talking about?"

"Cleaning supplies," James said quickly. "We're not sure what to disinfect with. Any ideas?"

"There's some industrial strength disinfectant spray under the sink, use that," Logan said tiredly, collapsing back onto the couch because he was too weak to sit up for more than a minute.

Kendall washed out the bucket and mop in the bathtub and brought Logan some water and helped him change into a clean sweatshirt. "How you holding up, buddy?"

"I'm ok," Logan answered, even though he was anything but. He never felt so sick in his life, but he was sensing that James and Kendall were stressed out and worried and he didn't want to add to it. He would be fine, he was certain.

Kendall sat beside Logan, watching him carefully. Logan seemed to be holding something back. He kept glancing at Kendall shyly and he seemed uncomfortable. It was obvious his stomach was still hurting, but Kendall, for some reason, knew that wasn't it.

"Are you sure?" The caring blonde asked gently. "You know you don't have to hide anything from James or I. We want to help you."

Logan blushed again and looked up at Kendall's emerald, concerned eyes. "Well, it's just… Can you maybe rub my back so I can fall asleep? It makes me feel better."

Kendall smiled, finding it endearing that Logan was so shy to admit that. He had known that Logan loved getting his back rubbed since he was a little kid. "Sure, buddy," he said, massaging Logan's back in wide circles with his palm. The sick boy immediately relaxed, his head resting on Kendall's knees. Within minutes Logan was asleep but Kendall kept the motion going, wanting Logan to know he wasn't going to leave him again.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Next up, Carlos whumpage because now way is he ok after all of that! Reviews are the gold to my leprechaun.**


	7. Doctor Logie is in the hizhouse

**A/N Do you guys even know how much I appreciate your reviews? Like, I could just cry. THANK YOU! What did ya'll think of BTRocker? "…Cut it off and… Agh!" Oh my, this show concerns me. And how smoking were those leather jackets?**

The events of the day had taken its toll on Carlos' weak body. While Logan was exhausted and slept peacefully, Carlos was fussy and fitful all evening. He whimpered and kicked in his sleep, and he would rub his sore ears from time to time. Even from the outside they looked red and irritated. And a new symptom now made itself present: he had a horrible, congested cough. Well, he had a cough for the past couple days but this was different and much, much worse. It sounded like someone had poured super glue into his chest, and he hacked away in his sleep.

When he first started coughing, it alarmed James and Kendall. The first fit was so bad that he had awoken with tears stinging his eyes, but they effectively soothed him back to sleep and he had stayed asleep ever since, his body too tired to wake again.

"His cough is scaring me, Kendall," James admitted. It was now 7 in the evening. The day was finally coming to a close but they knew they would not sleep a wink tonight. Why couldn't they just have simple colds? It would be so much easier. James could literally feel himself starting to break out because of all the stress. He hadn't had a break out since high school in Minnesota. But that was the least of his worries at the moment.

"It's scaring me too," Kendall admitted. For once, he didn't have all the answers, and the one who did was horribly ill with a crippling flu.

"Should we wake him up and give him some medicine, and maybe some orange juice?" James suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Logan always says that the body needs nutrients when it's sick and he hasn't had much today."

James gathered up Carlos' bottles of medicine and poured him a glass of orange juice and put a few crackers on a plate, then brought it to Carlos, who was gently being awoken by Kendall.

"Hey buddy, can you wake up for a few minutes?" Kendall asked, bringing Carlos to a sitting position. The little Latino moaned and leaned against Kendall, trying to gather his bearings. He just wanted to sleep.

"What? M'tired," Carlos whined. He let out a painful cough and Kendall patted him between the shoulder blades until it was over.

"We need you to take your medicine and eat some food," Kendall said. Carlos moaned and buried his face in Kendall's chest.

"No, no medicines, it's icky," Carlos slurred. "I want some pillows."

James shared a confused look with Kendall. "Why is he talking weird?" The brunette said.

"I think he's delirious," Kendall said. He rested his palm on the boys' forehead and worry shot through his stomach at the heat he found there. "He's so hot, James. He needs some fever reducer, now."

James hurriedly poured a couple pills in his hand and Kendall took them and put them on the back of Carlos' tongue, than followed it up with orange juice, which Carlos drank thirstily. Next they gave him the cough syrup which they hoped would calm his cough a bit, and then the antibiotics. Carlos was too out of it to put up his usual fight. This alarmed James and Kendall more than anything else. Carlos wasn't _Carlos_ anymore, he was listless and lifeless. He wasn't even clingy anymore. He craved comfort, of course, but he was too weak to crawl into a waiting lap or hug his friend's necks tightly.

"Do you want to try some food?" James asked, stroking Carlos' black, damp bangs from his face. They were usually spiked on top of his head but now they hung limply above his fever-shot eyes. Carlos tried to be a good sport and gave a little nod. Though he felt so sick, he also felt a bit hungry, like his body needed food but not his stomach. It was definitely a weird feeling.

James smiled and handed Carlos a cracker, which he munched on slowly. It went down with no problem, so James handed him another one. This time, it didn't go so well. A coughing fit hit Carlos' full force and he gagged a bit before spitting the tiny amount of food right back up. Luckily, James had quick reaction time and when he heard the first gag emit from the smaller boy's mouth he placed the plate beneath his chin and let him throw up.

Carlos let out a high-pitch sound that was a cross between a moan and a whimper after the assault on his body. He was now frustrated, he wanted to eat and he needed to eat but his body wouldn't let him. Kendall hugged Carlos gently while James went to throw the messy plate away.

"What just happened?" Logan asked, waking from his deep sleep from the sounds of Carlos' gags. He saw Carlos greyish parlor and once again forgot about his own health to kneel in front of him. "Carlitos, are you alright?"

"Logan, please lay down," Kendall said, pulling Logan up by one arm so he was seated on the couch.

"No, something's wrong and I want to know what," Logan said. "Ugh, I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

"You're running a high fever, you need sleep," Kendall argued. Carlos groaned and snuggled against Kendall's side even more, irritated by all the voices in his throbbing ears.

"I'll sleep when I know what happened," Logan said, leaning over Kendall's lap so he could feel Carlos' forehead. He could barely see through his fever but he knew Carlos needed help.

"He has a really bad cough," Kendall said, knowing Logan would not give up until he could play doctor. "It sounds like he has something stuck in his chest. His fever is spiking, too."

Logan sighed, placing a hand to his swimming head. He didn't want to get up, but he knew he had to help Carlos, so he was gearing himself to stand up without falling over.

"Logie, you ok?" Kendall asked, concerned by his behavior.

"Yeah, I just don't feel good," he answered, getting to his feet. Nausea overwhelmed his stomach and he stumbled a bit. James had just come back in from the kitchen and caught him easily.

"Whoa, Logan, what are you doing?" James asked protectively. Why wouldn't his friends just simply rest?

"Carlos," Logan mumbled. He sat down next to his Latino friend and pulled him close. "Tell me what's wrong, Carlitos."

"My chest hurts, Logie," Carlos admitted, tears streaking his cheeks. Logan wiped the wet crystal drops away affectionately and looked at James.

"James, can you go up to my room and get my stethoscope? It's in my dresser," Logan said, his words slow and deliberate, as if it was hard to form words through his fever. James nodded and retrieved the medical instrument Logan asked for, than handed it to the smaller boy. Logan put the earpieces in his ears pulled down the collar of Carlos' shirt so he could press the cold metal against his chest. Carlos jumped at this and tried to pull away, but Kendall kept him still.

"It's ok," Logan told him. "Can you take a deep breath for me?"

Carlos did what he was told, and Logan listened intently, worry etched in his features.

"Lean him forward," Logan instructed Kendall. The blonde leaned Carlos slightly towards Logan, and the little doctor reached behind Carlos back, lifted his shirt, and pressed the metal piece to his back. Again, Carlos jumped but instead of fidgeting, he buried his face in Logan's neck.

"Can you breathe again deeply for a couple seconds?" Logan asked. Carlos drew in a few deep breaths. "Ok, good, now cough a couple times."

Carlos sat up a bit and forced a cough, which led to an unintentional coughing fit. Logan listened to this closely. "Does it hurt to cough?" He asked. Carlos nodded. "Where does it hurt? Kind of by your shoulder blades, or in your chest, or both?"

"My chest," Carlos answered with a yawn. "Can I sleep now?"

"Yeah, buddy, you can sleep," Logan said softly, laying him down gently and stroking his hair to relax him.

"Is he ok?" Kendall asked, staring at Logan expectantly.

"Well, he has bronchitis, but luckily not pneumonia, which is what I was afraid of," Logan said in his weak, broken voice. "His lungs are clear. We just need to make sure it doesn't lead to pneumonia, which it can if we're not careful."

"Wait, this sounds serious," Kendall said. "Doesn't he need a doctor and medicine for this?"

Logan shook his head. "He has Penicillin, that's all he'll need. It'll just take a couple days for it to work. As long as we keep him well rested, he'll be fine."

"And what about you?" James asked, to which Logan looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to be fine? I mean, you have nobody to diagnose you and I feel bad," James said. Logan gave a small smile as he lay down on the couch.

"I have the flu, I'll live," he said, touched that his friends cared so much. "You guys are doing a really good job, so stop freaking out, please. You're stressing _me_ out."

A few minutes later, Logan was fast asleep again. Now that they both had medicine coursing through their veins, it would be quiet for a few hours until the next dose was needed.

"Hey, we can play some video games and make some pizza," Kendall suggested.

"Sure, I'll make the pizza," James said, stifling a yawn.

"I'll set up the video games," Kendall said, finding James' yawn contagious. They were so tired after such a crazy day. Neither boy got up from their seats like they said they were, but instead fell right to sleep.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Hmm, I hope Carlos will be ok… Reviews are froggies on my lily pad!**


	8. the steamy chapter

**A/N I don't like James' hairstyle right now. It reminds me of how he looked during the first season. Blehr. I still wuv him though. I feel like abusing my boys so on with the story! Ps thanks for reading, reviewing, and alerting, you guys get corndogs!**

Carlos was trapped in what felt like a tight box of heat. It was hard to breathe in the box, and his skin was ablaze. He was soaking wet for some reason, but it didn't cool him off. It just made him sticky and uncomfortable. He kicked and thrashed and tried to cry out, but sleep hung over him like a heavy fog.

A dull "thud!" suddenly resonated through the quiet living room, and James woke up with a start, blinking quickly and trying to find where the noise had come from. He saw a squirming shape on the floor in the darkness and he leaned down to see Carlos fighting against his blankets and whimpering every so often.

"Oh, buddy did you fall?" James asked in a sleepy voice, lowering himself off of the couch and onto his knees next to Carlos, who looked up at him with dark, shiny eyes.

"Help," was all Carlos muttered, and James smiled down at him and went to work on untangling his friend from the blankets that were causing him to feel so claustrophobic. It was then that the taller boy noticed Carlos' pajamas were soaked through with sweat, clinging to every ounce of his skin. James rested his hand on Carlos' forehead and frowned.

"You're so hot, buddy. When's this fever going to leave?" He asked in a soft voice, stroking Carlos wet hair back.

"James, I don't feel good," Carlos said. He laid spread out and motionless on the floor, thankful that the blankets were no longer suffocating him. He was still so hot, like somebody shoved him into an oven and left him there to bake, and it was hard to breathe. His chest felt like somebody filled it with playdoh.

"I know you don't. Let's get you out of these wet clothes, maybe that will make you feel better," James suggested. He hauled Carlos to his feet a little too quickly. His ear infection caused him to get dizzy easily, so as soon as James pulled him up, Carlos felt his world toss and turn. He stumbled, not knowing which way was up or down, but James caught him easily and held him steady and upright.

"Are you alright?" James asked. Carlos merely nodded and rubbed his sore ear. James frowned. "Is your ear still hurting you, buddy?" Once again, Carlos nodded and leaned forward so he could bury his over-heated face in James' chest. James held him for a few moments until he had enough strength to walk. He led the sick boy to his room and gave him a large t-shirt and flannel pajama pants to change into. Carlos smiled a tiny bit at the clothes James helped put on.

"This is huge," Carlos croaked, staring down at the long pants legs and baggy shirt. It was super comfy and cool, though.

James chuckled because Carlos looked like a tiny kid in the huge clothes. His cheeks were red and his hair was matted to his forehead. If he didn't know Carlos was so horribly sick, he would've thought he looked adorable. But right now, he just wanted his best friend to get better. It hurt to see him so miserable, and he could see the pain shining in his eyes.

On the way back down to the couch, Carlos started coughing again. He was barely able to get in a breath between hacks. James quickly led him to the couch and brought him close so he could rub his back. Carlos coughed violently into James' chest and James just let him, however icky it may be.

"James," Carlos whimpered, sucking in a breath before he started coughing again. He clung onto James' shirt with white knuckles, tears forming in his eyes.

"Ssh, I gotcha. Just let it out," James cooed. His stomach flipped with worry. Carlos' cough sounded terrible and his breathing was short and ragged. "Kendall, wake up dude," James said, knocking Kendall upside the head to get him awake. The blonde sat up quickly, rubbing his head lightly.

"James! What the heck?" Kendall groaned before he noticed his smallest friend coughing and crying against James chest, his body heaving and shuddering with each gasp for air. His green eyes widened with panic and he raced to get a glass of water, the only thing he could think of at the moment. But Carlos only pushed the glass away from his lips, refusing to drink it.

"I don't know what to do, James," Kendall said, watching helplessly as Carlos hacked and coughed and rubbed at his sore chest.

"Wake up Logan," James told him. Logan was a last resort because the brunette was so sick as well and he needed to rest before he came down with something nastier.

"I don't want to wake him," Kendall said, feeling Logan's heated forehead. The smart boy was curled up on his side, folded hands squished between his flushed cheek and the couch cushion.

"I don't either but we need him," James said in a shaky voice. He was getting extremely nervous. "I think Carlos is having trouble breathing, listen."

Kendall listened to the congested, short breath's Carlos was gasping in. His coughing was starting to calm a bit but his breathing was definitely getting worse. Kendall turned to Logan and shook his shoulder gently. It was hard to wake him up because he was so exhausted and his medication had him knocked out cold. Kendall hated to disturb him but Carlos needed help quickly. Finally, Logan stirred and let out a long whine before flipping onto his stomach to avoid whoever was waking him up. Kendall's heart broke at this.

"Logan, I'm really sorry but we need your help. Something's wrong with Carlos," Kendall said softly.

It took a moment for Logan's feverish mind to process what he was just told but when he understood, he sat up with a start, eyes glancing all over the room until he spotted Carlos, who was red faced and sounded like he was choking in his own congestion.

"Oh my God," Logan said, wincing at the pain he felt in his throat. "Carlos, are you ok?"

"I can't breathe, Logie," Carlos said in a scared voice.

"James, pick him up and take him into the bathroom," Logan said, getting to his feet and making a beeline for the first floor bathroom. James was confused, but picked Carlos up and followed Logan's footsteps into the cramped room. The young doctor was turning the shower on full blast as hot as it could go.

"Just sit with him in here and keep him calm," Logan instructed with a cough. He leaned against the sink for support, feeling incredibly weak. He took a moment to think through his fever-jumbled thoughts. "Um, the steam will open things up and bit and clear some of the congestion until I get back with some medicine."

James sat on the floor with Carlos lying limply in his lap, his head heavy against his shoulder. He gasped for breaths, shoulders shaking. Logan knelt down and put his cool hand against Carlos' hot cheek. The small Latino looked at Logan through half-lidded, glassy eyes. The lack of oxygen was clearly starting to affect him.

"I'm going to get you some medicine, just wait a few minutes, ok?" Logan said. He gave his cheek a pat before exiting the bathroom, Kendall watching his every movement carefully.

"Logan, you don't look so good," the blonde said worriedly. "I think you need to sit down." Logan was trying to walk but it was more like he was stumbling dizzily, and he seemed a bit out of breathe. His knees were wobbling dangerously.

"No, I don't need-"

"Sit down," Kendall instructed sternly, sitting him down on the couch. "Tell me what medicine Carlos needs."

Logan buried his face in his palms, fighting the urge to fall asleep right there. "Um, he needs Epinephrine, quick. You can get it over the counter at a drugstore."

"Epaphin?" Kendall asked, confused. "English, please?" Logan sighed and made a move to get up.

"I'm running to the store, I'll be right back," Logan said, but Kendall pushed him right back down.

"You are in no shape to go out and deal with this," Kendall said. "Just tell me what he needs again?"

"Epinephrine. He needs an aerosol bronchodilator." Logan grabbed his blackberry and texted it to Kendall's cell. "Show the information to the pharmacist. She'll know what it is. And hurry, ok? There's a Walgreens a couple blocks from here."

"Got it!" Kendall said, grabbing his phone and keys. Logan went back to the bathroom to make sure Carlos was alright. He opened the door to be greeted with a wall of steam. He could barely see in front of him, but he made it over to James and sat down.

"How's he doing?" Logan asked, stroking Carlos hair.

"I think the steam's helping a little, but it's still hard for him to breathe. Is he going to be ok, Logan?" James asked in a frightened voice.

"Kendall will be here soon with some medicine, it should help," Logan said, fingers running through Carlos' dark strands, which were slowly curling in the humidity.

"Will it for sure though?" James asked, thinking the worst. What were they going to do if they couldn't help him breathe? He brought Carlos closer to him and buried his nose in the sick boy's soft curls at the scary thought.

"If not, we'll have to call an ambulance. It'll be ok though, James. We're not going to let anything happen to him," Logan said.

"Guys," Carlos suddenly said weakly.

"What is it buddy?" James asked, all attention on the shuddering boy in his arms.

"I'm right here," Carlos said. James smiled sheepishly, realizing Carlos was listening to their conversation.

"Yeah, sorry buddy," James said. Carlos tried to smile, but started coughing again. James patted his back gently. His congestion sounded a bit looser but his breathing was still labored. It had an odd, squeaking noise to it now, barely heard over the rushing of the shower water.

"Logan, listen carefully," James said, leaning Carlos towards his doctor friend. Logan looked at James' worried expression and put his ear against Carlos' chest.

"He's wheezing badly," Logan said. "Oh Carlos, just hang in there, ok? It'll be ok, buddy." Carlos moaned and leaned against James, seeking comfort. He really didn't feel well.

A few minutes later, Kendall burst into the bathroom with a small box in his hands. "Ok buddy, I got your medicine," he announced, removing an inhaler from the box. He didn't quite know what to do with it, so he looked to Logan for help. Logan took the inhaler and put the mouth piece in Carlos' mouth.

"On the count of 3, you need to take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds," Logan said. Carlos nodded. "1, 2, 3," Logan said, pressing the small can of medicine down. Carlos took in a breath and Logan removed the inhaler from his mouth. "Hold it, hold it... Ok, you can let go now buddy."

Carlos let his breath out and the boys were silent for a moment, just listening to his breathing. It seemed to have worked perfectly, Carlos was breathing much clearly now and was able to breathe deeply, even though he still sounded a bit congested. The scary wheeze was completely gone almost right away. James and Kendall breathed a sigh of relief now that they knew their little brother wouldn't be taking any trips to the hospital tonight.

"Let's get him to the couch," Logan said, noticing Carlos looked exhausted. His eyes drooped and his head lolled tiredly against James' neck.

"Come on, 'Litos. You can sleep now," James said, getting to his feet and picking the small boy up as if he was a child. He had lost some weight over the past couple days, and James made a mental note to make his little brother a plateful of corndogs as soon as he felt better.

James laid Carlos on the couch, propping a pillow underneath his head. He draped a blanket over his shoulders before giving his feverish forehead an affectionate kiss.

"Think he's going to be ok?" Kendall asked from behind James, fearing that another attack would hit him again. Maybe taking him to a doctor in the morning was a good option.

"I don't know, I've never seen him so sick before," James said, watching Carlos finally sleeping peacefully. Suddenly, the taller boy looked thoughtful as his eyes scanned the living room.

"What's wrong?" Kendall asked.

"Where's Logan?" James asked. He thought that the sick boy had followed him out of the bathroom. Concern flooded Kendall's green eyes, and the blonde ran back to the bathroom, where Logan leaned against the wall looking so pale, he was almost translucent. His cheeks had gone from flushed red to a sickly grey. His legs were shaking and his mouth hung agape. Chocolate eyes were unfocused and barely noticed Kendall's presence.

"Logie? Oh my God, what's wrong?' Kendall asked. In all the panic surrounding Carlos, they had nearly forgotten that Logan was very ill.

"I don't feel good," Logan whimpered in a slurred voice. The entire room was spinning everywhere. His knees struggled to support his weight but he couldn't do it anymore. Blackness ebbed at the corners of his eyes. Kendall seemed to catch on that something was wrong and rushed forward to hold Logan in his arms. As soon as Logan felt strong arms wrap around his torso, he let his legs give out and darkness overtake him as he fainted in his best friends arms.

**A/N Logie abuse, woot! Thanks for reading. Please review, they are the sprinkles on my icecream! Next chapter is more Carlos and Logan whump! Things are only getting worse for those poor boys.**


	9. mama!

**A/N Thanks for the reviews everybody! It's so cool to know people like this! What did everyone think of Big Time Strike?**

"Logan!" Kendall cried when his best friend passed out cold against his chest. The smaller boy had gone completely white, as if all the blood was drained from his body. Kendall reached beneath Logan's knees and lifted him so he could carry him to the living room. "James, make room!"

"What happened?" James asked worriedly when he saw Logan looking so ill. He quickly cleared off the couch so Kendall could lay Logan's limp, unconscious body down.

"I don't know," Kendall said shakily. He touched Logan's pale arm. "But he's so cold."

James picked up an extra blanket off of the floor and tucked it around Logan's shivering body, than patted Logan's cheek. Unlike the rest of his body, his face was scalding hot.

"Logie, come on buddy, wake up," James said, patting his cheek a bit harder. "Kendall, he's burning up, man. What do we do?"

"Just keep trying to wake him up, I'll be right back," Kendall said. He went to the kitchen to fill a bowl with ice water and grabbed a washcloth. When he came back to the couch, Logan was still unconscious and James looked like he was freaking out. Kendall even saw tears forming in his taller friend's eyes as he tried to shake Logan's body awake.

"James, dude, he probably just exhausted himself," Kendall tried to say calmly. "Can you go grab me the thermometer?"

James nodded and left to locate the thermometer, and Kendall sat beside Logan and stroked his hot forehead with the cold cloth.

"Come on Logie, you need to wake up," Kendall said, shaking Logan's shoulder gently. Kendall felt like he was going to explode. This was too much stress in one night. Both of his friends were miserable and terribly sick and he felt as if he couldn't do a thing about it. He never felt so helpless before. It was like he was being forced to watch his little brothers suffer.

"Here Kendall," James said, handing the blonde a thermometer. Kendall placed it gently beneath Logan's tongue and waited for the device to beep. When it finally did, he pulled it out and read the digital numbers.

"One hundred and five!" Kendall exclaimed, looking over at James with wide eyes. James took the thermometer from his fingers and read it himself.

"Oh my God, Kendall this isn't good. What do we do?"

Kendall whipped out his cell phone. "I'm calling mom. She'll know." Kendall pressed speed dial and a few seconds later, his mother's tired voice was on the line.

"Kendall, baby, why are you calling so late?" Mrs. Knight asked. Kendall felt relief flood over him as soon as he heard her voice.

"Mom, it's Logan. He's really sick and I don't know what to do."

"Ok, calm down baby and tell me the whole story. What happened?"

"Carlos and Logan have been sick for the past couple days. Carlos had some trouble breathing a little bit ago and Logan was rushing around trying to help him when he suddenly collapsed. He won't wake up and he has a fever of 105, mom. Is he going to be ok?" Kendall was now on the verge of tears just like James.

"It sounds like he exhausted himself, baby," Mrs. Knight said. "I need you to try to get him awake and get some fever reducers in him. Keep him cooled down. Put an icepack on his forehead, neck, and under his arms, but not all at the same time. Rotate it every few minutes. Keep a close eye on his fever. If it doesn't start lowering in an hour or if it goes up at all, take him straight to the hospital."

"Ok, got it," Kendall said nervously. "But how do we wake him up?"

"Look in Logan's first aid kit for smelling salts, I'm sure he has some," Mrs. Knight instructed. "I'm gonna let you go so you can care for Logan. Let me know how he does, and if he needs to go to the hospital call me immediately ok? And how is Carlos?"

"Carlos is ok, he's sick but he should be fine. He has an ear infection and bronchitis."

"Oh, poor thing… Take good care of those boys, Kendall. I love you."

"Love you too. Thanks, mama." Kendall hung up his phone and got to his feet.

"What did she say?" James asked immediately, jumping to his feet as well.

"That he fainted from exhaustion and we need to wake him up and lower his fever. I'm going to go get everything we need, you stay with Loges." Kendall went up to Logan's room to where he kept his first aid kit and found a small jar of smelling salts, than got 2 icepacks from the freezer and some extra-strength fever reducer before returning to the couch and sitting at Logan's side. He unscrewed the lid to the jar of smelling salts and held it up to Logan's nose. He didn't even stir.

"He's not waking up, Kendall. Why isn't he waking up?" James asked, voice high pitched with worry.

"I don't know!" Kendall said with a frustrated sigh. He set the jar down and bit his lip, contemplating his next move. "Well… Sorry for this, Logie." Kendall cringed his eyes shut, brought his hand back, and slapped the sick boy full-force on the cheek.

"Dude! What was that?" James cried when he heard Kendall's hand strike Logan's delicate skin.

"Hey, it worked," Kendall said. Logan groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He put his hand straight up to the red spot on his cheek where Kendall slapped him.

"Hey Loges, just take it easy," Kendall cooed when Logan looked around with scared, fever-glazed eyes. "You alright?"

"Daddy?" Logan asked in heart-breaking voice that resembled a child's. Kendall glanced at James and sighed, knowing right away that Logan was delirious.

"No, it's me, Kendall. And James is here, too."

"Oh," Logan said, thinking hard for a moment. "I'll take the grape jelly."

James smirked. "There is no grape jelly, buddy. But we have medicine. It will make you feel better." James poured a couple pills into his hand and lifted his hand towards Logan, but Logan pouted like a 3 year old and knocked James' hand away, sending the pills flying. Kendall chortled while James looked stunned.

"What was that?" James yelled, making Logan jump.

"Dude, you scared him," Kendall said. "He has a 105 degree fever. Of course he's not going to cooperate. Here, buddy, do you want some… Umm, grape jelly?" Kendall asked, pouring two more pills out into his hand.

"He's not going to fall for that," James said, but surprisingly, Logan nodded his head eagerly and let Kendall place the pills in his mouth, followed by a drink of water.

"Hey, I think I'm going to take Logan upstairs and take care of him," Kendall said. "He needs his own bed right now. You stay with Carlos and make sure he's ok. Get some sleep too, you look exhausted."

James nodded. Now that things kind of calmed down, he was realizing just how tired he really was. "Ok, thanks buddy. Call me if you need help."

"You too. Good night, James." Kendall grabbed the supplies he needed and carefully peeled Logan off of the couch. He carried the limp boy upstairs and tucked him into his bed. He then placed a cold cloth against his forehead and wrapped up the icepacks so he could put one under each of his arms. Logan tensed and shivered at this, but Kendall stroked his hair back and murmured words of comfort until he relaxed.

"This is going to be a long night," Kendall sighed, lying down beside Logan. He was worried at how violently he was shivering, so he wrapped an arm around him and brought him in close to his chest. Logan moaned and nuzzled his face into Kendall's chest.

"You'll feel better soon buddy, just hold on," Kendall said softly. "I'm gonna get you better, Logie."

**A/N Ah, sorry for the shortness of this chapter but I'm almost as sick as Logan and I need to get some sleep so I can get to work in the morning. Next up is the Carlos whump I have been promising, I… Promise. Haha.**

**One more thing, it's my little Elijah's first birthday today! I am his nanny and I love him to death. We are quite literally attached at the hip and he is the most gorgeous angel ever. He teaches me so much responsibility and I'm so proud to be such a huge part of his life. So happy birthday to my lil bear!**

**Please review. Love you guys!**


	10. rashes and tantrums

**A/N Wow it has been a while! Thanks for all the reviews and just for reading, I'll make this extra whumpy and fluffy for all of your patience!**

Kendall watched Logan sleep in his arms like a hawk, studying his sweaty, flushed face. He felt like all of his nerves and senses were sharpened. With every sound or move Logan would make, Kendall would fuss over it immediately, checking his temperature and making sure his ice packs were situated in the right places. Every 15 minutes, he would trade off places where the ice would rest on Logan's small body, and sometimes he would move the ice completely.

It had been an hour since Logan collapsed, and all the ice packs were melted from the intensity of his fever. Kendall removed the sloshy, towel-wrapped packs and set them aside before taking Logan's temperature. He was at 104.7 degrees now. For the amount of medication and cool down that Kendall had given him, his fever hadn't really budged much.

"Come on Logie, get better," Kendall urged, hugging Logan to his chest. For some reason, he was finding it hard to let Logan go. He felt he had to have his best friend in his arms at all times, where the small boy was safe and comforted. Despite how tired he was, he refused to close his eyes and fall asleep. What if Logan needed him? What if something happened and he slept right through it?

"I wish you could just tell me what to do," Kendall whispered. "You're the doctor, not me. Why'd ya have to get sick, buddy?"

Logan groaned against Kendall's chest and shuddered. Even in his sleep Kendall could see a great deal of pain etched in his features. His clothes were soaked all the way through with sweat, and Kendall carefully eased out from under him and grabbed a dry pair of flannel pajamas from the drawer. He then carefully undressed him and gasped in shock.

"Oh my God, Logie… What is going on with you, buddy?" Kendall whispered, ghosting his fingers over Logan's skin. The sick boy was marred with a red rash, spread out over his chest, stomach, and legs. Some of the rash was raised, some parts were flat discolorations. As Kendall studied the rash, he felt panic settling into the pit of his stomach. It almost hurt, and when he suddenly felt a bit dizzy, he blamed it on being tired and worried.

Kendall ignored the weird feeling inside of his stomach and rushed down to James, who was sound asleep on the couch with Carlos sprawled out on top of him. Kendall removed Carlos and laid him down on the other end of the sectional, than shook James awake.

"James, I am sorry to wake you but you gotta see this!" Kendall said, dragging James to his feet. James stumbled tiredly.

"What's 'appening?" James slurred. Kendall didn't say anything, just dragged his best friend up to Logan and pointed at his stomach.

"Look at Logan! What the hell is that?" Kendall exclaimed.

"Whoa!" James yelled in surprise, making Logan stir in his sleep. That might have been a good thing. Kendall wanted Logan to be awake so he could question him. James must have thought the same thing, because he went over to the sickly boy and gently shook him out of oblivion.

"Logan, buddy, wake up. Something's wrong," James said urgently. Logan whimpered and wrapped his arms around his shivering body.

"James, I'm so cold," Logan said with a cough.

"I know, little guy. Just hold on." James quickly dressed Logan in the clothes Kendall laid out and lifted his tiny body up easily, letting Logan's legs wrap around his waist as if he were a 3 year old. Logan's head lulled against James' shoulder, already asleep. James could feel the intense fever radiating from Logan's head onto his shoulder.

"Kendall, can you stay with Carlos? I'm taking Logan to the hospital, this can't be good," James said. Kendall nodded, surprised by his take charge attitude. James was never this assertive, but Kendall was silently thankful for it because the blonde's mind was drawing blanks in the midst of his panic.

"Yeah, just call me when you find out what's going on," Kendall said nervously. He didn't really like the idea of being separated from Logan, but somebody had to stay with Carlos.

James nodded and carried Logan out to the car. He buckled the sleeping boy in and drove off to the hospital. Being that it was nearly 5 am, there wasn't much traffic on the road and they arrived sooner than he thought they would. James parked his car and went around to the passenger side so he could unbuckle Logan and lift him up.

"Where are we?" Logan wondered groggily, wrapping his legs around James' waist and his arms around his neck. James choked and loosened Logan's death grip from his neck.

"We're going to the emergency room, buddy. You're really sick," James explained, which turned out to be a very bad idea. For being so weak and sick, Logan was feisty. He struggled against James' arms, whimpering in fear.

"Logan! Stop it, buddy! What's the matter?" James asked, perplexed.

"No!" Logan cried, and then James remembered Logan's odd little quirk. Even though he was an aspiring doctor, Logan was terrified of hospitals. He hated being the patient with a fiery passion.

"Awe, jeez Logie, it's going to be ok! I'll be right with you, I'm not gonna leave your side, not for a minute! Just calm down, Logan!" With difficulty, James made it across the parking with a struggling Logan but as soon as they reached the sidewalk, Logan lost it. The small boy wailed, slipping from James' arms and falling onto the concrete. A couple passersby's stopped and stared in shock.

"Is he ok?" One woman asked, watching the teenager on the sidewalk throw a huge fit.

"No, he's not ok!" James said, grabbing his hair in panic. "He's really sick and he's delirious with a fever and I don't know what to do!" James reached down and lifted Logan bridal style this time, marching through the double doors. Logan's fit had ceased as quickly as it started, the sick boy feeling too weak to carry it on any further. He now just cried against James' chest pitifully.

"Excuse me," James said, approaching the front desk. "My friend is really sick. He's had a high fever for quite some time now, please help him."

The nurse looked up at James and smiled, amused. "Weren't you 2 just here a couple nights ago, for the other little one? Carlos? How's he doing?"

"Sick," James replied. "You'll probably be seeing him again soon. But this time, it's Logan. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"What are his symptoms, sweetie? Besides the fever?" The nurse asked. James lifted Logan's shirt slightly, and the nurse gasped when she saw the horrible rash spread out across his skin.

"Oh, poor little boy! Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed. She quickly called for a doctor and ordered a solitary room, claiming she had an extremely contagious teenaged boy that needed to be put in quarantine. James almost burst into tears in fear. What was wrong with his best friend?

Suddenly, Logan was whisked from James' arms and put into a wheelchair and a doctor wheeled him off down the hall. Logan cried out in protest, but was too weak to do anything else after he over-exerted himself with his earlier tantrum. James stared at the doctor that took his friend away and decided to run after them. He followed them into the small hospital room and watched the white-coated man place a teary-eyed Logan onto the skinny white bed.

"James," he whimpered, reaching his hand out towards the taller boy. James rushed forward and grabbed Logan's hand.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to be back here," The doctor said in annoyance.

"Bullshit, he's my little brother and I'm staying in here," James growled, than turned back to Logan. "You gotta let the doctor take care of you now, Logie. I don't know what to do to make you better. But I'll be right over here, ok?" James squeezed Logan's hand and stepped back so that the doctor could do his job. James watched the doctor work on Logan protectively, ready to attack at every whimper or cry that escaped Logan's lips.

"Why does he have that rash?" James asked, annoyed at being kept in the dark. The doctor glanced at James, waiting for the thermometer in Logan's mouth to beep.

"He has measles," the doctor said. "A bad case of it, too. I'm thinking he has the flu and the measles, poor kid." He removed the thermometer and read the numbers aloud. "One-oh-five even," he said, clicking his tongue in worry.

James blinked. The measles? What the hell were measles? Was that some kind of horrible disease? What was going to happen? Was Logan going to die? James suddenly burst into tears and the doctor looked at him, taken aback.

"Young man, what's wrong?" The doctor asked, flabbergasted.

"I don't want him to die!" James sobbed, and surprisingly, it was Logan who spoke next.

"I'm not going to die, you idiot," Logan croaked weakly, followed by a cough. The doctor laughed and James blushed wildly.

"The measles aren't life threatening," the doctor explained. "It used to be very common but most people are immunized against it. I will check Logan's vaccination records to see why he ended up catching it, because the vaccine is highly effective. It's his fever I am worried about. I'll put him on a heavy fever reducer and see if that does the trick. Keep Logan company for a moment, I'm going to go look up his records and find him some medicine."

James nodded and watched the doctor leave, than sat on the edge of the bed next to Logan. "You ok, Logie?"

"I don't feel so good, James," Logan said, rubbing his stomach. His rash was making him uncomfortable. He felt a larger hand against his stomach, rubbing gently, and opened his eyes to see James' hand was making small circles on his stomach and chest absent mindedly. Logan relaxed and coughed. His mind felt blurry from the fever and skin was burning, and all he wanted to do was go home.

"You'll feel better in a little bit, the doctor is going to find you some medicine and then we can go home."

Logan yawned and rubbed at his tired eyes. He could feel himself drifting in and out of confused consciousness. "Oh. Where are we, Jamie?"

James smiled and swiped his thumb against Logan's warm cheek. "We are at the doctors, Logie. Remember?"

"Oh. Well just don't leave me when we get there, ok? I don't like the doctor," Logan mumbled. James chuckled.

"I'm not gonna leave you, bro. I'm right here." James watched Logan fall asleep. The doctor came in, reading a slip of paper.

"It says here that Logan's measles vaccination was never completed when he was a baby. That would explain why he caught it. He'll have a rash for a few days, if it gets itchy put some calamine lotion on it. The most important thing is to keep him hydrated, as he'll most likely have diarrhea for a couple days. He'll be pretty sick for a bit but like I said, it's nothing life threatening. Measles can cause a vitamin A deficiency so make sure he takes a multi vitamin every day. I'm going to give him some fever reducer and I want to keep him here for a few hours, just so I know his body is responding to it because a fever this high is not normal and can be very dangerous. I'm going to put him on an IV because he's showing early signs of dehydration."

James cringed. Logan hated needles, but luckily he was in a deep sleep and didn't even notice when the doctor inserted the IV into his arm. The doctor woke him up briefly to swallow the pills, but he fell right back to sleep.

"I'll leave you 2 alone, call me if you need anything," the doctor said. James nodded and thanked him, then dragged a chair to Logan's bedside and sat next to him. He was so exhausted. The past couple days were a whirlwind of stress, and he wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep, even in such an uncomfortable chair. But before he could drift off, he texted Kendall and let him know the situation. Kendall freaked out at first, but James reassured him that Logan was fast asleep and just fine. When Kendall finally calmed down, James leaned forward and rested his head on Logan's bed, falling asleep immediately.

**A/N Ahh, I keep promising Carlos whump and then I don't do it! I promise, next chap will have the Carlos whump! We'll see what is going on back at the apartment with Kendall and Carlos, it's not gonna be good! Please review? Thanketh you!**

**Oh, and if you think the doctors were over reacting, they were aha. Measles are super contagious and doctors like to freak out and over react. One time I walked into an emergency room with croup and the doctors did the same thing to me as Logan, they took me into a trauma unit and quarantined me and all the doctors wore masks. I was like wtf? And they were like "It's contagious!" Hahaha. **


	11. more tears

**A/N You guys are amazing. Here's some cute Carlos whump and a little something extra for you guys! Ps I am narrowing in on 100 reviews, yeehaw!**

Kendall was trying to sleep on the giant orange sectional. It was still dark in the apartment and he was hoping to get a couple of hours sleep in before morning officially started, but it was kind of hard to do with the constant snoring coming from the nasally, sick boy on the opposite end of the couch and the nagging worry of Logan being stuck in the hospital. What if his fever doesn't lower? What if he was admitted into the hospital? Were measles really as harmless as James was making out to be?

Kendall groaned and shifted, nearly falling off the skinny cushion he laid on. He gasped and steadied himself before pulling his blanket around his shoulders tighter. He was getting increasingly colder for some reason. And the snoring was getting louder, if that was possible. It was making his head start to ache. Kendall was miserable. And all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Kendall, wake up."

Kendall moaned angrily at the feet that were currently kicking his shins. He was finally half asleep and now Carlos was awake.

"Kendall!"

"Uunnnhhh," Kendall moaned again, resembling a zombie.

"Kendall I don't feel so good," Carlos' voice whined. He sounded sick and broken, and with a sigh, Kendall forced his eyes open and sat up.

"What's wrong Carlitos?" Kendall asked, studying the pale boy's face. He wasn't looking better like he hoped he would be. In fact, he looked much worse.

"I-I don't know, I just don't feel good." Carlos coughed. "Hold me?"

"Um-" Kendall started to say, but he was cut off by Carlos lunging himself into Kendall's arms and nuzzling into his chest. "Oof! Ok?" Kendall put an arm around Carlos' shoulders and felt his forehead with his free hand.

"You're so hot, 'Los. Are you breathing ok? Is your chest hurting?" Kendall asked. Carlos was sounding a bit congested again, and he was burning up. It wasn't quite as bad as Logan's fever but it was still worrisome.

"I can breathe, I just feel yu**c**ky," the Latino said. "Where's James?"

"Logan wasn't feeling good so he took him to the hospital," Kendall said. Carlos' head shot up and he looked at Kendall with huge, anxious eyes.

"The hospital? What's wrong?"

"He has measles, whatever that is, and the doctor wants to keep him there because his fever's so high. What's wrong, buddy?" Kendall asked. Carlos' lip suddenly quivered and his eyes were dewy.

"I know it's my fault he's so sick. I've been so needy, Logan hasn't had time to rest," Carlos said sadly, and Kendall squeezed his shoulders warmly.

"No, Carlos this isn't your fault. Sometimes people get really sick. Logan doesn't regret helping you. Please don't feel bad," Kendall said. Carlos slammed his face on Kendall's shoulder and moaned dramatically.

"Logie is in the hospital, of course I feel bad!"

"He will be home in no time, and he'll be feeling much better. So just don't worry about it, ok?" Kendall said, and Carlos nodded against his shirt. Kendall rubbed his back in an attempt to silently comfort the sick boy. He was worried for Carlos. The smaller boy was incredibly pale. He looked like somebody dusted his body with chalk completely draining the natural caramel color from his skin, and it was as if he couldn't hold his own body up for longer than a few seconds. Kendall realized that it had been ages since he had anything nutritional.

"Carlos I'll be right back buddy, you need some food inside of you. Just hang out here and watch TV…" Kendall turned on the television. "And I will make you some soup." Kendall tucked Carlos in with a blanket and stood up. He was taken aback by a wave of dizziness similar to what he experienced earlier only a little more intense and he was less than pleased when he noticed the pit in his stomach was still there.

Kendall shook it off though, blaming the uncomfortable feeling again on stress and exhaustion, and headed to the kitchen. He made Carlos a hot cup of tea and a bowl of chicken noddle soup. He carried the 2 items carefully to the couch and set them on the coffee table.

"Th-thanks," Carlos whimpered, and Kendall leaned down to see that Carlos was in a silent fit of tears, tiny droplets flowing down his chubby cheeks quickly. Kendall immediately went into big brother mode, sat on the couch, and brought the smaller boy's body close to his side.

"Carlos, Logan is going to be fine, ok? Don't cry, please 'Los?" Kendall soothed, wiping Carlos' tears away with his thumb.

"It's not that," Carlos whimpered in a tiny voice, wrapping his arms around Kendall's waist. "My ear hurts."

"Your ear?" Kendall repeated, worried and surprised that his ear was causing him so much pain that he would cry this hard. "How bad does it hurt?"

"Really, really bad," Carlos sniffled. "It hurts to talk."

"Oh, you don't have to talk buddy," Kendall whispered, realizing that the volume of his voice was probably making it hurt worse. "Here, take some of your medicine." Kendall gave Carlos a dose of each of his medicines and offered him the tea, which the Latino drank greedily, almost burning his mouth on the hot liquid.

"Do you think you can eat something?" Kendall asked, holding the bowl of soup in his lap. Carlos opened his mouth halfway for a spoonful of brothy noodles. Kendall laughed.

"Really, dude? You need to be spoon-fed?"

Carlos nodded. Kendall shook his head at the endearing boy and gave him a bite of soup. After a few bites, Kendall noticed that Carlos was cringing after every swallow.

"Are you alright? Is your throat bothering you?" Kendall asked, wishing he could somehow take his pain away.

Carlos shrugged, than pointed to his ear, indicating his ear infection was making it hard to eat. Kendall made a sad face in sympathy and offered him another spoonful, but Carlos flinched away.

"Come on bro, you need to eat some more. Unless you feel like you are going to throw up, you need to eat. You'll only feel sicker if you don't."

Carlos pouted, but finally opened his mouth and allowed a few more bites before refusing anymore. He put a hand to his stomach to let Kendall know his stomach was feeling sick, and Kendall put the bowl aside, not wanting to clean up anymore puke than he had to.

"You did good," Kendall said. Carlos smiled weakly and stared at Kendall's lap longingly. Kendall smiled and sighed.

"C'mere," Kendall said, waving him over. Carlos scooched closer and laid down, resting his cheek on Kendall's thigh. The blonde covered him with a blanket and rubbed his arm, hoping to soothe him to sleep. But Kendall didn't realize how much Carlos' ear hurt. The Latino was sure his ear would explode. It was a burning, throbbing pain, no longer just an annoying ache. It felt like somebody was stabbing him in the eardrum every time he swallowed or spoke, and even Kendall's sweet whispering and the very low volume of the TV irritated it.

Carlos tried to concentrate on the cartoon they were watching and the steady strokes of Kendall's hand on his arm but the pain was getting worse. His ear was starting ring and buzz loudly, and he could no longer ignore it no matter how badly he didn't want to seem like a baby to Kendall. He gripped Kendall's knee and cringed his eyes shut, whimpering every now and then.

"'Litos? What's going on little bro?" Kendall asked in a concerned voice, begging Carlos to tell him what was wrong. Carlos' only answer was a heartbreaking whimper. Kendall was starting to freak out a little. Ear infections weren't supposed to do this, were they? He really wished Logan was here right now to tell him what to do. All Kendall could do was try to comfort him, but the attempts were futile. Carlos' tears were endless.

"Ssh, it's ok, just try to relax," Kendall whispered, rubbing circles against his back.

"Owie, Kendall!" Carlos cried out in pain when he felt a horrible, painful pop deep inside his ear. Kendall could feel something warm and wet pooling on his thigh. He gasped and lifted Carlos up a bit to see blood trickling from the younger boys' abused ear.

"Kendall!" Carlos cried, putting a hand up to his throbbing ear, only to feel the blood leak against his fingers. He pulled back his hand, saw the red liquid, and sobbed loudly.

"I know buddy, it's ok!" Kendall said, even though he had no idea what was going on. He ran to the kitchen, wet a cloth, and brought it to Carlos and pressed it against his ear. The action made Carlos scream, which made Kendall's stomach plummet with guilt.

"Did it stop?" Carlos asked in a hoarse voice. For some reason, he chose to keep his eyes tightly screwed up. Ever since Carlos was a little, boy whenever he felt like he wanted to disappear or for something bad to go away, he would scrunch up his face and refuse to open his eyes until he felt better. It was a cute habit he never grew out of.

"Yeah, there's not so much blood," Kendall said, dabbing his ear gently. "Does it feel better?"

Carlos shook his head. "It's ringing and it hurts." Carlos sniffled as more tears leaked from his brown eyes. "I want Logie."

Kendall felt a bit hurt by this, but he understood. "I know, Carlos. Come on, I need to get you to the hospital so a doctor can see your ear, ok?" Carlos nodded and Kendall put on his slippers for him, then wrapped him up in a jacket and led him to their other car. It wasn't as fancy as the BTRMobile, but they had learned quickly that one car for four 18-year-olds would never work and decided a few months back to pool their money together and buy a second vehicle.

Poor Carlos cried for the whole drive. It was a soft, sad sound, and Kendall would murmur words of comfort and pat his knee gently every now and then because the older boy just couldn't stand to see him so miserable. He was supposed to be happy and lively and pain-free, but these past few days had been so hard on his small body, Kendall started wonder how long it would be before Carlos would really be able to smile again.

**A/N Sorry if this was a little crappy, I am so tired and my brain just wouldn't kick into gear tonight. Can anyone guess what happened to Carlos? Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds, it just hurts a ton! And can anyone guess what the something extra was? You will find out next chapter! Reviews are the Scarecrow to my Dorothy!**


	12. 3rd one down!

**A/N Hey everybody! Halloween is almost here! What's everyone's plans? Hope you all like this chap!**

The night shift nurse at the front desk watched in amazement as, yet again, little Carlos Garcia was dragged into the hospital waiting room by a very tired looking Kendall. This time, the Latino was holding his ear with one hand and had his other arm wrapped around Kendall's. The poor thing was crying quietly and looked to be in quite a bit of pain.

The nurse sighed, ready to greet the boys for what was this, the 4th time?

"What happened this time, kiddos?" She asked when they approached her desk. She was a little concerned when Kendall spoke in a hoarse, weak voice.

"It's Carlos, he was saying his ear hurt really bad and he was screaming and it started to bleed everywhere and now there's some gross looking liquid coming out of it," Kendall said, wondering if he shared too much information. "Is he ok?"

"Sounds like he's burst his eardrum," the nurse said, having seen this type of thing many times before. "Come on back, follow me." The nightly nurse got up from her usual perch and led them back to the hospital rooms, making sure to take note of how slowly Kendall was walking and the dark circles underneath his eyes.

"I burst it?" Carlos asked, stumbling dizzily behind Kendall and the nurse who he thought was kind of mean at first but now he kind of liked. "What's that mean? Is it going to… Un-burst?"

"It should be just fine, Carlos," the nurse said, pointing to the single hospital bed in the tiny room. "Lie down."

Carlos sniffled and did what he was told. He wished he could just fall asleep right there, away from the pain and misery, but he knew he would have to undergo annoying, uncomfortable poking and prodding first.

"Alright, what hurts baby?" The woman asked Carlos, grabbing a thermometer off of a shelf.

"My ear and my tummy," Carlos answered with a sniffle. He opened his mouth for her to insert the thermometer, but she turned her direction in a sneak-attack and unceremoniously jammed it under Kendall's tongue instead.

"Hey!" Kendall cried out in surprise, but the older woman gave him a stern look.

"Don't you take that out of your mouth, mister."

Kendall wavered for a second, hand in mid-air next to his mouth, and after a couple seconds of intense stare-down he finally lowered it and pouted with his arms folded across his chest. Finally, the stupid little thing beeped and the nurse removed it, tssking as she read the numbers.

"One-oh-two point four, Kendall. You have quite a fever. Have you been sleeping properly?" She asked, sitting the ill boy down on a chair. He shook his head in shame.

"No, I have been too busy taking care of Logan and Carlos." At that thought, Kendall's fever-dulled green eyes widened. "Logan! He's here and he's sick, I need to go check on him!" Kendall made a move to get up, Carlos made a wailing noise because he didn't want to be left alone with the nurse who he kind of liked but still scared him a bit, and said scary nurse slammed the blonde right back into the chair.

"Ah-ah, you are staying right here and the doctor is going to check both of you out. Logan is fine, his doctor told me just minutes before you got here that his fever was stable and he and James were both sound asleep."

Kendall groaned, too exhausted to argue, and watched the nurse leave the cramped quarters. He looked over at Carlos, who was looking paler by the second. The younger boy caught his gaze and scooted over a bit, patting the small space next to him. Kendall smiled gratefully and crawled up onto the bed next to his small, sick friend.

"You ok, Carlitos?" the blonde asked when the Latino rested his head tiredly against his shoulder.

"Not really. I'm sorry you're sick, bro," Carlos said sadly.

"S'okay, not your fault. I'm sorry your eardrum exploded on you."

Carlos shrugged and mimicked Kendall's word. "S'okay, not your fault." He sighed and looked at his pale older brother. He felt ashamed at himself, the entire time he was ill he did not once think of James or Kendall's health, or even Logan's for that matter. He just acted like a baby the whole time and kept them awake and made them run around for him. Now Kendall was icky looking and James was probably sick, too. They were all sick and for the first time in his life, Carlos was sure Kendall was wrong. It was all his fault.

Carlos whimpered and rubbed his ear. He was so tired of being sick, and it had only been a couple of days. He just wanted to get better so he could take care of his friends as well as they took care of him.

"Carlos, what's the matter?" Kendall asked. Even when the blonde was feeling this sick, he always knew whenever one of his buddies was upset. Carlos definitely looked very upset right now. His lower lip quivered, along with his dimpled chin, and his eyes were round and droopy with sadness. Unfortunately, his question went unanswered because a doctor walked in, the same one who just finished caring for Logan and James and took care of Carlos the first 2 times he was here.

"Hey boys, I heard that both of you aren't feeling too good right now. What's bothering you?"

"My ear hurts and my tummy feels yucky," Carlos answered immediately. Kendall, however, stayed silent.

"Kendall, what's hurting you son?" The doctor asked, pressing his hand to Kendall's hot forehead. The blonde flinched away. Strange people touching him always bothered him. The middle-aged man sighed. "You gotta tell me what's wrong or else I can't help you. Is it your head, throat?"

"No, I'm fine," Kendall said automatically, even though his head was pounding and he felt dizzy and weak. His stomach was starting to act up too, his insides churning very slowly. He knew it could only be the start of a very bad stomachache.

"Tell him Kendall, he will make you feel better," Carlos said innocently. Kendall shrugged because he felt like there was nothing to tell. If doctors were as all-mighty as Logan and everyone else made them out to be, than why couldn't the man just know right away what was ailing him and just give him some medicine?

"You'll even get a sticker," Carlos added, trying to forget about his own pain to get Kendall to open up.

"A lion sticker," the doctor joked, holding up a large yellow sticker with a goofy cartoon lion on the front.

"Oh, I want the lion!" Carlos gasped, reaching forward and snatching it from the doctor's grasp. Kendall smirked, but still kept his lips clamped shut. He was perfectly fine, all he needed was some sleep and he would be good as new.

"Ok, well I'm just gonna look at Carlos here, maybe you'll let me check you out after I am done?" The doctor asked, getting out his supplies to help the youngest boy. Kendall shrugged. It was doubtful, but the doctor hoped the teenager would come to his senses and admit he was sick. After all, the kid looked almost as ill as Carlos.

Kendall watched the doctor fix Carlos up with worried eyes. To him, it seemed like the doctor only was hurting him with the tools, not making him better. The doctor had given him some pain medication right away, but it didn't seem to help any. When the white-coated man stuck something in Carlos' hurt ear to look inside of it, the young boy flinched, resulting in the instrument accidently jamming into his abused ear. Poor Carlos screamed out in pain, followed by a sob. He turned away from the doctor and hid his face against Kendall's chest, his entire thin body trembling in pain.

"Owiee," Carlos sobbed, rubbing his ear to make the sharp pain go away. Kendall gave the doctor a dark look and wrapped his arms around Carlos' waist protectively.

"You hurt him," Kendall accused, rocking the bundle in his arms to get him to calm down, because his loud cries were making his head pound like an angry hammer. The doctor looked at the boys apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Kendall, he has a busted ear drum of course he's going to be in pain. The medication should be kicking in soon."

"Well you're not touching him until it does kick in," Kendall said firmly.

The doctor wondered briefly why he was always stuck with the hard patients, especially these boys. He had taken care of them before, seeing as how one or the other was always falling out of a tree or eating something rotten on a dare, but he had never had all 4 of them in one night. It was starting to stress him out.

The 2 boys and the man sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, the stifling air only interrupted by the occasional hiccup from Carlos. Kendall was starting to doze off, one arm around Carlos and the other moved to clutch his aching stomach. The doctor knew it was only a matter of time before Kendall would be in need of his assistance.

"Carlos, I really need to check your ear again-" the doctor tried to speak, but Kendall snapped his eyes open and glared daggers at the man before turning to Carlos.

"Carlos, is your ear feeling better?" Kendall asked. The smaller boy shrugged.

'I just want to get this over with and go see Logan and James," Carlos replied. He pointed to his ear and cringed. "Hit me."

The doctor smiled and looked inside Carlos' ear. This time, the boy did not flinch and while the intrusion was uncomfortable, it didn't cause him as much pain as before. The doctor did various other things to Carlos that doctors do.

"Is he alright?" Kendall asked for about the 5th time. The doctor smiled, finally finished looking at his patient.

"Well, I think he'll live," the doctor said with a wink. "His fever is still a bit high and he has a touch of bronchitis, so I will just give you a refill on his antibiotics because he'll need to take them for a little bit longer now, especially because he's running a risk of getting a deep ear infection because of his eardrum."

"Is his ear going to be ok though?" Kendall asked. He was filled with questions, such as why it seemed as though Carlos was only getting sicker instead of better.

"It should heal completely in a few weeks. He might have fuzzy hearing for a while, but he'll be fine. If his ear starts to bother him, just put a warm compress on it. But you need to keep him in bed until his infections clear up. His immune system is very weak right now and he needs all the rest he can get, so the infections can get better instead of progressing further. He's a very sick boy right now. I know his tummy is getting upset, but make sure he's eating fruits and carbs and of course, chicken noodle soup and he needs plenty of water."

"How long is it going to take for him to start feeling better?" Kendall asked, running a hand through Carlos' dark curls.

"At least a week, if you follow my instructions."

"Can I go see Logie now?" Carlos asked with a cough.

"I think you need to go home now, Logan is sleeping. You can come back in the morning," the doctor said, hoping that by the time they came back Kendall would give up the stubborn act. The blonde was really starting to concern him. He was too pale for his liking.

"We can't just leave him, I promise I'll be quiet," Carlos said.

"How about this, since you both are sick, Kendall I don't even want you driving right now, you 2 can stay here and sleep for a couple hours and then go see Logan. It would do no good to send you boy's home with nobody to care for you. I'll let you boy's sleep and tell a nurse to come check on you in a little bit. You can even have jello, Carlos."

"Yay," Carlos said weakly. The Latino was given a dose of antibiotics and cough syrup, than tucked into bed by Kendall.

"Get some sleep Kendall," Carlos said, voice slow and eyes closed. The small boy curled against Kendall's side and forced himself to stay awake until he could hear steady, soft snores coming from Kendall's before falling asleep himself.

**A/N Oh no, now Kendall's got it! Next chap should be super cute. Have a happy Halloween and a fun weekend love you all! Reviews are frosting!**


	13. waking up

**A/N Bonjour! How was everybody's Halloween? Mine was nutastic. Thanks everyone for your reviews, I read them all! Special thanks to my anon reviewers, I get sad that I can't reply directly to you guys! Ok, hope you enjoy some sick delicious hot boys.**

"Ughhhh," James groaned dramatically, groggily blinking his eyes open. Sunlight flooded the white-washed room and the brunette sat up with a start. Where was he and why wasn't he at home? The first thing he saw was Logan's spotty, pale, sweaty body and the events of the night rushed back to him.

"Mmm, Loges, you awake?" James mumbled, wiping at his eyes. Logan snored loudly in reply. "Guess not…" James let out another groan at the ache in his back from the awkward position he had slept in. He wondered how long he had been out, and he searched the room with his eyes for a clock. A small clock on the wall read it was 8 am. It had only been a few hours, but the short rest made him feel a lot less tired than he had been feeling.

"Good morning, James," Logan's doctor said as he entered the room with a tired smile on his face. James wondered if the poor guy ever got to go home.

"Mornin'.How's Logan?" James asked, resting a hand on Logan's sweaty forehead. His skin was still warm, but it wasn't burning like he had been.

"Logan is doing much better. He's no longer dehydrated so I took out his IV and his fever was one-oh-one point four. I just gave him some more medicine about an hour ago so he'll be knocked out for a little bit. You should use that time to head to the cafeteria and get something to eat. When he wakes up he could probably go home."

"Good, that's good," James said, relieved that Logan was making progress. "I better go home for a few minutes, take a shower and let Kendall and Carlos know what's going on."

"James, you were asleep all night so I didn't get a chance to tell you, Kendall ended up having to bring Carlos in few hours ago because his eardrum busted and he's running quite a fever-"

"What?" James cried, jumping to his feet. Logan moaned and stirred in his sleep, and the tall boy stroked his spikey hair soothingly until he was still and snoring again, than turned his attention back to the doctor. "Is Carlos alright? What happened? His eardrum… _Busted_?"

"Don't worry, he's fine, James. Sometimes, the eardrum can burst when the patient has an ear infection. It will heal up just fine in a couple weeks. Both boys are sleeping right now but you can see them when they wake up. Kendall is running a fever as well, but he won't tell us what's wrong let alone check him out, so we're not sure what's wrong at the moment."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that sounds like Kendall. Can you let me know when they wake up?"

"Of course. Now go grab some breakfast, you look like you haven't eaten properly in days."

James grunted and ran a hand over his face, cringing at the rough stubble he found there. He had been so busy over the past few days he hadn't had time to do anything like shave or eat a real meal. He reluctantly left Logan to visit the cafeteria briefly. He sat at a lone table in the corner with chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes, picking at the unappetizing food absent-mindedly.

What was he going to_ do?_ All 3 of his friends were sick now. He could barely handle one sick boy by himself. How in the name of Cuda was he going to manage doctoring 3 of them? How could this week get any more stressful than it already was?

After a few bites of chicken and 2 cups of jello, James tossed his tray of dishes on top of the trash cans and headed back to Logan's room, worried for the smaller boy. He knew Logan despised being alone, especially in new environments, and James wanted to be there when he woke up.

He ended up being a few minutes too late. Logan was sitting straight up in bed, looking around the room anxiously with groggy eyes.

"Logan! I'm here, bud," James said sweetly, walking swiftly to his bedside. Logan's chocolate brown orbs filled with relief when they landed on James' figure.

"Hey James," Logan said with a cough, weakly lifting one arm for a hug. James gently leaned into the embrace, than felt the shivering boy's forehead.

"You're still so warm, Loges. How're you feeling, any better?"

"A little better, I guess. I'm itchy," Logan said, scratching at the red rash that covered his arms. The rash had definitely spread over night. They were now on his neck and even the side of his left cheek had a breakout, the red bumps a stark contrast against his creamy white skin. Gray bags marred the delicate skin beneath his eyes and sweat shone on his forehead, dampening his black bangs. He looked so sick and so small, and the fact that he was lying in a hospital bed didn't help any. James wanted his ill friend to be at home, resting in his own bed, not here at this germ-filled, strange building.

"James, I'm ok," Logan croaked, reading James' worried hazel eyes.

"No, you're not," James said, practically collapsing in the chair besides Logan's bed. "You're in the hospital, dude. You were dehydrated, your fever was sky high and you look like you rolled out of your own grave!"

Logan winced, because he sort of felt that way, too. "People get sick sometimes, Jamie. I'll be ok, Carlos will be ok. We have you and Kendall, you guys are doing the best job you can and- what's wrong James?" Logan asked when James paled at the sound of his friend's names.

"Nothing," James said quickly. Logan didn't need to have any more worry laid on him. He needed to concentrate on getting better so he could go home, not freaking out about his other hospital-bound friends.

"James, tell me," Logan said in a warning tone.

James sighed. He never could keep anything from Logan. "Carlos was rushed to the ER last night because his eardrum busted- don't freak out, Logan! He's ok!"

"Don't freak out? Of course I'm freaking out!" Logan yelled so loudly he lost his voice. He coughed for a moment and continued. "Why didn't you tell me? Is he alright? Are they giving him surgery?"

"Calm down," James said, putting his hands up. "Carlos is fine, I promise. I didn't tell you because if you remember right, you were delirious with fever all night! He doesn't need surgery. It will heal on its own."

Logan shook his head, cheeks flushing as he started to excite himself. "No, I need to talk to the doctor. They at least need to put a patch on his eardrum. What room is he in?"

"What? No, lay down Logan. You're getting yourself all riled up and that's why I didn't want to tell you." James pushed Logan shoulder's, sending the little boy back onto his pillow. Logan growled. He was too sick to do anything but what James told him.

"Well, can I at least talk to Kendall? I assume he's with Carlos?"

"No and yes," James said simply. Logan arched an eyebrow, confused.

"What does that mean, James?"

"It means no, you can't talk to Kendall and yes, he is with Carlos. He's resting too."

"James, what are you not telling me?" Logan asked. "I want the full story! It's not my fault I was unconscious last night and I want to know what happened."

"Ok, ok!" James said, than took a deep breath. "Kendall's got it too."

Logan wrinkled his nose. "He's 'got it'? What exactly is 'it'?"

"Kendall's sicky, Logan," James squeaked in a small voice.

Logan's face scrunched up into a look of sympathy. "He's sick? How sick? What's wrong, did he say anything?"

"No, he refuses to let the doctor help him, but he has a fever. Nobody knows how sick he is, he won't tell anyone."

Logan sighed. "Typical Kendall."

"I know."

Logan looked up at his older friend hopefully. "Will you wheel me down to their room? I need to see them and make sure their ok."

"I don't think so Logan, you have to rest some more. I know you're not feeling good. Go back to sleep and when you wake up I'll let you know how they're doing. No, Logan, not the puppy dog face dude!"

Logan jutted his lower lip out and narrowed his dark eyes in sadness, pleading silently for James to give him his way. But surprisingly, James stuck to his guns.

"Logan, you are not getting any sicker than you already are. Go back to bed. Carlos and Kendall will be fine." James tucked Logan into bed and patted his warm forehead.

"'Kay," Logan said. His throat was too sore to keep arguing. "Can you go check on them for me?"

"Sure," James said. "I'll be back in a bit. Get some sleep."

"Thank you, James," Logan said, curling up and closing his eyes. James smiled, surprised at how easy that ended up being. Logan could be unusually stubborn at times. The taller boy left and walked down the hall to Carlos and Kendall's and shared room. The 2 boys were curled up on a tiny bed, snoring away. Carlos was hooked up to an IV with dried tear tracks on his tan cheeks. He must have been crying in his sleep form the pain. Next to the Latino, Kendall lay shaking. The blonde let out a sickly moan, making James' stomach clench in concern. The brunette approached the 2 ill boys and felt each of their foreheads. Both of them were burning with fevers.

Suddenly James heard a tiny gasp from behind him, and he turned around to see a ghostly-white Logan standing in the doorway, clutching the frame and staring at his friends in shock.

"Logan! What are you doing in here?" James scolded in a whisper. He took the frail boy's arm and sat him down in a chair before he collapsed on the floor. Logan ignored the brunette, his chapped lips open in a small 'O' shape.

"They're so sick, James. How could I have not noticed that?" Logan asked.

"Maybe because you're just as sick as they are. Please come back to bed, you really shouldn't be out here."

Again, Logan ignored him and shakily got to his feet so he could go over to Kendall and stroke his forehead, than reached over to touch Carlos' head.

"Logan, you really can't play doctor right now," James said, annoyed. Why was Logan deliberately ignoring him?

"But they're sick James. Look at Kendall, he's holding his stomach. Has he been throwing up at all?"

"Not from what the doctor has told me. Now will you just go back to bed?" James asked, his voice rising in frustration. How was he going to be able to care for his friends if they wouldn't even_ listen _to him?

Kendall moaned and woke up, his restless sleep disturbed by the voices. He was more than happy to see his friends next to him, even though he was feeling like absolute crap.

"Logie, you ok?" Kendall asked immediately, trying to prop himself up on one elbow, but he was too weak to do even that.

"I'm ok," Logan said. "A little dizzy and itchy, but I think I'll live. How about you? James told me you were sick."

"Nah just tired. I'm fine. It's Carlos here we need to worry about," Kendall said nervously. Being sick was hard to hide, but he hated it whenever Logan found out. He just hated that kind of attention.

"We need to worry about you, too," Logan said softly, rubbing Kendall's arm. "I know you aren't feeling well. What's the matter?"

"Nothing, Loges. I just haven't been getting much sleep. I swear that's all it is."

"That doesn't explain why you're burning up," Logan said. Kendall scowled, fluffy eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. The blonde boy got out of bed, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to overpower him and the uncomfortable twisting feeling deep in his gut.

"Look, I'm fine, Logan!" Kendall said, right when his stomach lurched painfully. He groaned and grabbed his stomach, but it faded as quickly as it came.

"Kendall, what's wrong?" James asked, rushing to the blonde's side. Kendall shook his head, but once again his stomach twisted and turned. This time, it didn't go away. His insides kept churning, and he broke out in a cold sweat. His body shook uncontrollably, and he wrapped both arms around his abdomen and leaned forward, unable to stand up straight at the moment.

"Is your stomach hurting you, Kendall?" Logan asked, already knowing the answer. He pressed the call button for the doctor, knowing Kendall would need one in a couple of minutes.

"Unh-huh," Kendall said, nodding. He felt like he was going to be sick, but he didn't want to. He tried to will his stomach to calm down, but the painful sensation kept building.

"Here, sit down buddy," James said, leading him to a chair. Kendall sat down gratefully and curled in on himself.

"Ugh, it hurts James," Kendall admitted. James put a hand on his back and rubbed his shoulder blades soothingly. The brunette could feel tiny heaves underneath his hands as Kendall started to gag. He dove for a trashcan and shoved it under Kendall's chin just in time for the blonde to release the contents of his stomach with a deep shudder. The poor boy gasped and sputtered as more vomit rose to the back of his throat. He threw up 3 times before his shoulders slumped in exhaustion. James set the trashcan aside and wrapped an arm around the panting boy, sharing a look of alarm with Logan.

Yep, Kendall was sick.

**A/N Yay now Kendall's all gross and James is freaking out! Do you think our favorite pretty boy can handle it? Please review! They are the candy to my corn teehee. Love you guys!**


	14. Stubborn

**A/N Hey everybody! Sorry for making you wait! Hope you enjoy and thank you all for the reviews, anonymous and signed!**

**Warning: This is going to be ridiculously short and ridiculously cute. Kogan bromancey alert.**

"_That did not just happen,"_ Kendall thought in his mind, looking at the puke-filled bucket an alarmed James held in his hands. No freaking way was he sick! He couldn't be, not when Carlos and Logan needed him the most right now!

Suddenly, the doctor came rushing in and the attention in the room was focused on poor, shivering Kendall, who cowered miserably in his chair. He wanted nothing more at the moment than to just disappear off the face of the earth. He wanted to melt into a puddle of water and evaporate into the tile flooring. But no, as if he couldn't feel any worse with his pounding head, aching stomach, and burning throat, he had to be utterly_ humiliated _on top of all of it.

"Ahh, well, I suppose you can't hide being sick from us anymore," the doctor said to Kendall, placing a thermometer under the ill blonde's tongue. Kendall looked to James, as if asking for help, but James just shrugged.

"Sorry dude, you're sick. Join the club," James said, gesturing to Logan and Carlos. Kendall scowled. It didn't make any sense. It was normal for Carlos and Logan to get sick. He didn't want to say they were weak, because really they were the exact opposite, but they were… Small, and sensitive, so it was only to be expected that the younger boys get sick. And Kendall's role was to take care of them, not be moaning and groaning with a fever with them.

The thermometer beeped after a long minute, and the doctor read the numbers out loud. "Let's see, you're up to One hundred and two point five. Kendall, I have no idea what was going through your mind when you thought you could hide such a high fever from me and especially your friends, but I'll just blame it on the fever messing with your brain. Now, will you let me check you out?"

To Logan, James and the doctor's dismay, Kendall shook his head furiously, than wavered from the dizziness it brought him. "N-no, I don't need a 'check-up,' I'll be fine."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Logan croaked incredulously. "James, stay with Carlos. Kendall, come with me." Logan grabbed Kendall by the elbow and hauled the tall boy to his feet. The JR doctor had had just about enough.

"Logan, what are you doing?' Kendall asked as he was dragged down the hall by his tiny, sick, and surprisingly strong friend. Logan didn't say a word, just pulled him into his hospital room, shoved him onto the bed, than sat down next to him and took a moment to catch his breath and itch at his ugly, pestering red rash.

"Why are you exerting yourself? You should be resting," Kendall said. Logan made an annoyed sound in his throat.

"I'll rest when you admit that you're sick!" Logan said. He turned his head and coughed into his elbow. Kendall patted his shuddering back gently until his fit was over.

"You ok?" Kendall asked shyly. To be honest, he was kind of scared of Logan right now. It took a lot to get the brunette riled up, but Kendall knew from experience that when it happened, he was kind of unpredictable.

"This isn't about me, Kendall. What is up with you? You are clearly sick and you're acting like a defiant 3 year old!" Logan started coughing again. It hurt to yell at Kendall when his throat was so harsh feeling.

Logan waited for Kendall to say something, but the blonde was quiet. He just stared at his shoes, looking guilty and extremely pale.

"What, you have nothing to say? You're just going to sit and suffer in silence, when the doctor could be making you feel better? It's kind of selfish, Kendall. If you don't let the doctor check you out for yourself, than at least do it me and Carlos. We need you, dude. James needs you. Do you really expect him to be able to take care of all 3 of us at the same time?"

Kendall smirked a bit at the last part. He tried to say something, but his stomach was twisting and turning again, and he was afraid that if he opened his mouth more than just words would spill out.

Logan sighed in frustration, ready to give up, but Kendall whimpered a bit and clutched at his stomach.

"Kendall? Are you alright, bro?" Logan asked. Kendall cringed and fell onto his side so he could bury his face in his pillow. He didn't understand why or how his stomach could hurt so much.

"No," Kendall muttered. "What's wrong with me, Logan?"

"You probably have the stomach flu," Logan said, voice soft with sympathy. He rubbed Kendall's back to comfort his ailing friend. It's not like he was mad at Kendall, just slightly peeved.

"I didn't mean that, I mean what's _wrong_ with me? Why am I so stubborn?"

Logan shrugged, his fingers tracing circles onto Kendall's shivering back. "I don't know, because you're proud? Or stupid? Maybe a mix of both?"

Kendall let out a choked laugh and kicked Logan weakly. "Whatever, dude."

Logan laughed. "Well, while there's no cure for your brain…" Logan messed up Kendall's hair affectionately before continuing, "There is a cure for your stomachache. The sooner you let the doctor help you, the sooner you will feel better and we can all go home and sleep in our own beds. I don't know about you, but I miss my bed."

Kendall nodded and turned to look at Logan with sad, emerald eyes. "I do miss my own bed."

"Then the doctor is in," Logan said, pressing the "call doctor" button beside his bed.

**A/N I am sorry it was so short please don't be mad at me, I really wanted to make a Kogan-centric chap, I am tired and I need sleep, and I think the reason why my chapters in this story are getting shorter isn't only cause I am busy but because it might be nearing its end soon, and I am trying to prolong that cause I don't want it to end! Don't worry, it's not gonna end **_**really **_**soon, I still have plans! Please review?**

**And now to advertise some stuff: If any of you that haven't yet get the chance, try to check out my other works: "Silence," "Trapped," and a new sad Lomille one-shot I just posted: "Let Me Help You." I hope you like them and reviews are marshmallows! **

**Also, I will be making a really exciting (hey, it's exciting to me lol) announcement in an upcoming chapter of "Sweet Dreams and Angsty Things" so keep your eyes peeled! Ok, I shall shut up now. Have a great day. It's bedtime for me!**


	15. Failing

**A/N I am sorry for the update delay! Thanks for all the reviews and reads! This will be short, because it's midnight and I am sick (again) sigh… Hope you like it!**

"Kendall come on man, quit pouting," James said incredulously. "It wasn't _that_ bad, was it?"

"This was the most embarrassing night of my life and I don't want to talk about it," Kendall whined quietly, careful not to wake Logan, who was asleep in the bed next to him. After puking in front of the doctor and being subjected to a violating, pokey, proddy, and overall annoying check-up, the boys were finally released to go home. Carlos was snug in his bed across the hallway, Logan was dead asleep after such an exhausting and dramatic night, and Kendall was _still _pouting.

"It's over, Kendall. It wasn't that bad, was it? You have some medicine now to calm your stomach and some antibiotics. I bet you're feeling better already."

Kendall glared at James, even though he was feeling much better after taking a good, strong dose of the medication he was prescribed. "Dude, I puked all over the hospital room!"

James rolled his eyes. "We caught it in the bucket though!"

Kendall groaned. "That does not make me feel better."

"Look, you never would have puked in a bucket if you would have just told us you weren't feeling well," James shot back. "At least Carlos and Logan have the sense to admit when they are sick."

Kendall scowled and buried his face into his pillow, silently dismissing James. He was annoyed by the brunette. Mostly because he was, well, annoying and partly because he hated the idea that maybe, just maybe, he had to let James take over and be in charge for a few days. Kendall knew that James was perfectly capable of handling the situation, but it just felt wrong. Kendall always took care of things. It was strange to have to pass the responsibility onto someone else's shoulders.

"Kendall? I'm sorry to be giving you a hard time while you're sick," James said softly, and Kendall felt the warm weight of James' large hand rest on his back. The blonde relaxed into the touch and sighed, but did not answer.

"Do you need anything, maybe some water or blankets?" James asked, desperate to help. He hated seeing Kendall so miserable.

"No," Kendall mumbled, and he swiftly dodged James' hand that went towards his forehead. James frowned, slightly offended that Kendall wouldn't let him take care of him.

"I just want to check on your fever, Kendall."

"It's fine," Kendall groaned.

"Ok, ok," James said. "I'm going to go check on Logan and Carlos. Will let me know if you need anything?"

Kendall mumbled a reply, and he couldn't help but feel comforted when James ran his hand through his blonde locks and tucked his covers up to his shoulders.

"It's ok to let me take care of you, you know that right?" James whispered in Kendall's ear. "I'm here for you, buddy." James squeezed Kendall's shoulder and went to the next bed, where Logan lay curled up beneath a couple layers of fleecy blankets. The pale boy was shivering a bit and breathing heavily. His ill body was worn out from the events of that night. James gently placed a hand on his forehead, gaging his temperature. He was quite warm, and the way he squirmed in his sleep indicated that his rashes were making him uncomfortable.

"Ok, think, James," the tall pretty boy whispered as he squeezed his eyes shut in thought. How could he make Logan feel better? He had already made the sick boy take his medicine and drink some juice before he fell asleep.

James sighed and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He had no idea how to care for sick people. That was Logan's department. He had a horrible feeling that he was going to fail miserably at this and all 3 boys would end up right back at the hospital. They should have never left the doctor. James should have kept them there until they were all better.

"James? Why are you watching me sleep?" Logan suddenly croaked, startling James from his thoughts.

"Logie! Hey, you're awake," James said, smiling at the smaller boy's disheveled appearance. He looked like a 12 year old with his crazy hair, feverish eyes and flushed cheeks. "Sorry, I was just trying to figure out what to do."

"What do you mean?" Logan said, scratching absentmindedly at his red chest.

"You're itchy and you have a fever. What do I do? I don't know these things, Logie! I know how to apply Cuda massive hold spray and how to model elbow cream, not take care of sick, nasty, hacking people."

"Hey, I'm not that nasty," Logan said defensively.

"None of you have showered in days!" James said, waving his arms dramatically. "It's disgusting and your germy and-"

"Ok I get it!" Logan said. "Look, I'm really sorry you have to deal with all this, James."

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault," James said, realizing now was not the time to be insensitive. "Just tell me what to do?"

"There's not much you can do, buddy," Logan said with a yucky sounding cough. James patted his back soothingly, and Logan smiled gratefully. "We're sick which means we are going to be miserable for a while. All you can do is just be here for us."

"I just wish I can make you better," James said sadly. "Go back to sleep buddy, you look exhausted. I'm going to go make sure Carlos is ok."

Logan smiled and nestled into his pillow. "Good night dude. Don't forget to sleep, too. We don't need 4 sick people in here."

James smiled and tucked Logan in tightly before heading to Carlos' room. He was surprised to find the little Latino wide awake, staring at the dimly lit ceiling and mouthing song lyrics to himself.

'Hey, 'Litos. How are you doing?" James said sweetly, sitting next to his best friend. Carlos' eyes lit up when he saw James.

"I'm doing ok. I don't feel very good."

"I know, buddy," James said, touching his fingers to Carlos' forehead. "You're still warm. Is your ear still hurting?"

Carlos pouted and nodded. "Yeah, I can't sleep because it hurts so much. Can I have some more medicine?"

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea, you just took some. You need to wait a few more hours."

"Oh," Carlos whispered, his dark eyes brimming with tears, but he quickly blinked them away.

"Sorry, 'Los. Do you want some juice, or a corndog?"

"No, my tummy hurts," Carlos said pitifully, wrapping his arms around his middle and curling into a tiny ball.

"Hey I'll be right back, buddy," James said, thinking of something that might help Carlos. He hurried out of the room and grabbed a washcloth and wetted it down with hot water, than brought it back to Carlos' bedroom and pressed it against his abused ear gently. Carlos sighed and closed his eyes.

"Does that feel better?" James asked hopefully.

"Mmhmm," Carlos said. The pain in his ear was slowly being replaced with warmth. James smiled, satisfied, and went to the window and turned Carlos' shades down now that the sun was starting to rise. He wanted Carlos to get a long, undisturbed rest.

"James?" Carlos' weak voice whispered.

"Yeah?" James asked, rushing to Carlos' bedside.

"Will you rub my back 'til I fall asleep?" Carlos looked up at James with big, wet puppy dog eyes. But James didn't need the puppy dog look. He was already willing to do anything to make his best friend feel better.

"Sure, buddy," James said softly, sitting next to Carlos. He placed the palm of his hand on the small of Carlos' back and rubbed little circles against the soft fabric of his footie pajamas. He hoped this would also take the pain away from his stomach as well.

"Thanks," Carlos muttered. He fell asleep quickly, and James removed the rapidly cooling washcloth from his ear to avoid making his infection worse before sneaking out of the room. He peeked his head back inside Logan and Kendall's room to find them both snoring loudly.

James felt oddly misplaced. All of his friends were terribly ill, yet he couldn't do a thing to help him. He wished he was like Logan, or his mom. They always knew what to do when one of them were sick. But James just felt like he was playing a guessing game, only hoping that he what he was doing actually helped his friends and would keep them from having to go back to the hospital. He never wanted to go through that again.

James listlessly slid down swirly and plopped onto the orange couch, sighing in relief at how good it felt to simply rest. He didn't even realize how tired he really felt, yet he couldn't fall asleep. He tried lying down and cuddling a pillow, but his mind was racing a million miles a minute, trying to figure out what to do when the boys woke up. What if they were hungry? He didn't know how to cook. And what would they need to eat? What if he gave them something that only made them sicker? What if he messed up their medicine and gave them the wrong kind or lost a bottle?

James jumped to his feet and went into the kitchen where all of their prescription bottles sat on a counter. He went to work on arranging and organizing them all, than sat at the bar, unsure what to do with himself next.

"Ooh, food," he said, getting back to his feet and opening the fridge so he could make a sandwich. He pulled out a few ingredients and sat back at the bar so he could put together his sandwich. But after just a couple bites, his stomach grumbled unhappily. James twisted his lips into a sour pout and threw the perfectly good sandwich in the garbage can. Maybe he was too exhausted to eat.

James went back into the living room, lied down, and closed his eyes. He willed his mind to stop racing but it was no use. Finally, he gave up and grabbed the remote to turn the television on. He would just wait on the couch until one of his friends needed him.

**A/N Erm, I hope that wasn't too big of a fail. Next chapter will be better, I promise! Oh no! James feels like he is no good at taking care of the boys, but I think he is doing just fine, don't you? ;)**

**Please review? I will try my best to get the next chapter up soon! There will be whump for everyone in the next chapter, it's gonna be goooood!**


	16. Exhaustion

**A/N How was everyone's holidays? Hope you all had a wonderful time and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thanks for all the reviews, reads and favorites! Enjoy some more sick boys to ring in the New Year haha!**

James hadn't even realized he fell asleep until the sound of running feet and a door banging shut jolted him awake. He sat up straight on the orange sectional, trying to gather his disorientated, groggy thoughts.

He stumbled to his feet and ran up to the second floor to find Logan's door wide open and the bathroom door closed.

"Logan, you alright?" James asked, knocking lightly on the bathroom door.

"Go away!" Logan croaked weakly. James contorted his features in confusion. Did Logan sound… Embarrassed?

"Not until you tell me what's wrong. I'm coming in here in 3 seconds if you don't tell me what's bothering you."

"I'm fine James!" Logan whimpered. He sounded anything _but_ fine.

"1…"

"James please!" Logan whimpered.

"Logie, let me help you," James pleaded. "Are you throwing up?"

"N-no. You can't help me right now," Logan said. "Just go away."

James huffed a sigh and turned around to go wait for him in his room, but he was met face-to-face with a very pale, sweaty looking Kendall.

"Oh, Kendall you scared me bud," James said, studying his sickly features. He automatically reached out and grabbed Kendall's shoulders, afraid he would collapse at any moment. "Hey are you ok bro?"

"I… I need to…" Kendall said his voice barely above a strained whisper. James raised his eyebrows.

"You need to what, buddy?"

Suddenly, Kendall lurched forward and threw up violently all over the floor and James' hoodie. The brunette tried to ignore the fact he was vomited on for his best friend's sake and focused on Kendall's sickly wellbeing.

"Throw up," Kendall finished weakly. He tried to smile, but his wobbly knees gave out on him and he almost fell to the floor. James caught him by the armpits and hoisted him up so he was leaning on James' side.

"I'm sorry," Kendall said pitifully, looking down at the mess. The smell was making his stomach churn even worse, and he could tell James was trying to hold back vomit himself.

"It's ok bro," James said softly, not a hint of anger in his voice. "I'm not mad. Let's get you to bed and I'll clean it up, ok?" James hauled Kendall to bed and helped him change into a clean shirt and tucked him in.

"Go back to sleep, Kendall. I'll come and check on you in a bit," James assured him. Kendall looked up at him with broken, dull green eyes.

"I can't, my stomach hurts to much," Kendall admitted. James frowned and sat on the side of his bed so he could rub Kendall's arm for a moment.

"How does it hurt, buddy?"

"Ugh, it feels like somebody is twisting my gut with their fist," The blonde said with a groan. "It hurts so much, James."

"Just hang in there, man. It'll feel better soon, ok?" James said. "I have to go check on Logan. I'll be back in a few minutes, alright?"

Kendall nodded reluctantly. He didn't want James to leave, but he understood that he wasn't the only sick person in the apartment.

James squeezed Kendall's shoulder reassuringly and changed into a clean shirt before side-stepping the pile of Kendall's sick so he could knock on the door once again.

"Logie, you ok in there?"

"Mmhmm," Logan said, his tiny voice echoing against the bathroom walls. James sighed. He wished he could get a better answer from his ill friend, but decided he better clean up Kendall's mess first. He grabbed an armful of cleaning supplies from the closet and went to work on trying to scrub it up and sanitize everything. He had a gross feeling that their apartment would smell like stomach acid for a very long time after all the vomiting episodes they had that week.

Right as James was finishing up, Logan emerged from the bathroom looking utterly exhausted. His hair was matted to his forehead, he was as white as a sheet, his lips were pale white and chapped, and James could've sworn he saw a slight limp in his step.

"Logan, what's wrong buddy?" James asked, getting to his feet. He stripped his cleaning gloves off and pressed a hand against the smaller boy's warm cheek.

"I don't feel good," Logan said. His voice sounded painfully raw.

"I know, come here," James said, pressing the shaking boy to his chest so he could hold him gently. He felt Logan's weak arms snake around his waist and his head lean against his shoulder. "Tell me what happened, Logan."

"I just had really bad diarrhea ok?" Logan said, and James heard the same embarrassment in his voice that he had detected earlier.

"Logan, you don't have to be shy," James said softly, running his fingers through Logan's damp hair. "The doctor said something about diarrhea, it's ok."

"But it hurts," Logan said, abashed and uncomfortable. He whimpered and James held him tighter, trying to comfort his small friend.

"Are you ready to go back to bed? I need to get you something to drink. The doctor said you could get dehydrated." James ran his thumb over Logan's dry, chapped lip. He was so afraid of Logan dehydrating for the second time in 2 days.

"I want to take a shower first," Logan said. He felt gross and germy and sweaty. He just wanted to feel the steady pounding of hot water against his shoulders and then to go back to bed.

"Ok buddy, I'll have some water waiting for you in your bedroom ok?" James offered.

"Gatorade, I should drink Gatorade," Logan mumbled, shuffling back into the bathroom.

"Right," James said. He hurried back to Logan's room and grabbed a stack of clean pajamas and set them on the bathroom counter. "Call me if you need me ok?"

Logan nodded listlessly. He looked way too tired and James could have sworn he saw the small boy sway on his feet.

"You know what, Logan I'm gonna run you a bath," James said. He lowered the lid on the toilet and sat the shivering boy down, than filled the tub up with warm water. Logan was too exhausted to argue. He would have preferred a shower but a bath would be just as good. When the tub is just over half full, James helped Logan out of his shirt and pj pants.

"You gonna be ok to get in yourself?" James asked nervously. Once again, Logan nodded listlessly, standing awkwardly in his boxers. "Ok, I'll leave you to it. Remember, call for me if you need me. I'll get you in ten minutes." The taller boy reluctantly left the small room and headed back to Kendall's room, hoping the blonde had found some peace and finally fell asleep.

Sadly, Kendall was still awake, curled up into a tight ball. His cheeks and eyes were scrunched up in pain and his body heaved with heavy breaths. James had never seen him look so small and sick in his entire life.

"James," Kendall whimpered, sensing his best friend's presence in the room without even opening his eyes.

'It's alright, I'm here," James cooed, rushing to Kendall's side. He rubbed the ailing boy's back, hoping to relieve some of the pain.

"My stomach," Kendall moaned, gripping his middle tightly. James was desperate to help Kendall, but he was perplexed on what to do. He sat on the bed, one hand on Kendall's back and one hand to his forehead, trying to think of what he could do. Than he remembered the doctor had prescribed Kendall some anti-vomiting medicine, kind of like what they give to seasick patients.

James ran down to the kitchen and grabbed the correct bottle of pills, than back up to Kendall's room.

"Here, take these, buddy. It's your stomachache medicine. It's been a few hours, you can take some more now."

Kendall uncurled himself for all of 30 seconds, just long enough to swallow the pills down with a swig of Gatorade, and then he was back in his protective, shivering ball again. James put his face in his hands and watched Kendall moan and shiver. The brunette felt lost and scared. His friends were horribly ill and he had to just watch. There had to be something he could do. It was killing him inside to watch them suffer like this.

"James," Kendall croaked. His pained voice made James jump a bit, startled.

'What's up buddy?' James asked gently, adjusting the covers around Kendall's shoulders.

"You're tired," the blonde observed. James sighed.

"Yeah, I know I am dude. I'm exhausted and I don't know what to do..." James trailed off, his voice cracking slightly which made him blush a bit.

"Are you ok?" Kendall asked, and James scoffed.

"Why are you worrying about me, dude? You're the one with the stomach flu."

"Because you look like crap. Don't stress so much, we're fine," Kendall attempted to assure him, but his stomach gave a particularly painful twist at that moment and he cried out, which didn't make James feel much better.

"Just try and go back to sleep," James muttered, rubbing Kendall's back again. He watched as the blondes eyes fluttered closed and his body started to relax slowly under his touch.

"I'm serious James," Kendall said. His voice was slow and sleep-lagged, but James could hear his worry. "You'll get sick."

"I'll be ok," James whispered. "And you will be too. I promise. Now go to sleep." The brunette continued to rub Kendall's back until he was finally asleep again. He used the quiet time to contemplate Kendall's words. Maybe he was over-dramatizing everything, and even worse, maybe he was getting sick. His head was pounding a bit…

But no, that would be impossible. He wasn't over-dramatizing this time, he was wholly concerned for his friends and he did not want them back in the hospital again. And also, James Diamond doesn't get sick. It just didn't happen… Much.

"James?" Logan asked tiredly. James inwardly groaned. He was sick of hearing his name so much.

"Hey Logie, you alright?" James inquired, turning to see the pale boy standing in the doorway. He was trembling and damp from his bath, and he looked like a wet puppy dog in his oversized pajamas. James couldn't resist the urge to hurry over to the small boy and put his arm around his shoulders to lead him to his comfy bed.

"I'm cold and itchy," Logan moaned. James wiped his wet, black hair from his huge, fever-glazed eyes and felt his forehead.

"You're still so feverish… Here, drink some of this. Small sips," James advised, handing Logan a bottle of blue Gatorade. Logan drank a couple of sips before cringing at his upset stomach and pushing the bottle away. "How was your bath? You didn't stay in for long."

"It was nice until I got sick to my stomach again," Logan said. "I had to get out so I could… You know…" Logan trailed off, not caring to share the details.

"I'm sorry, Logie."

"Why?" Logan wondered. He searched James' hazel eyes and frowned when he found guilt. "James, why are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry you all are sick and I can't do anything about it," James said. Logan rolled his eyes and leaned back against his cottony pillows.

"James, I told you already it's ok and you are doing a great job, alright?" Logan said firmly. He squirmed a bit, trying to itch his back, and an idea formed in James' mind.

"Hey, do you know if we have any um… Crap, what's it called? It starts with a 'K'. Um, Call-me lotion?"

Logan stared at James for a moment, trying to decipher the boy's odd words before it finally clicked. "Oh! You mean calamine lotion?" He asked, not bothering to remind James that it was spelled with a 'c' and not a 'k'.

"Yeah!"

"Mmhmm it's in the bathroom," Logan said.

"The doctor told me you should use some!" James said, suddenly upbeat because he found a way to make his friend feel better. He looked through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom for the bottle of lotion and brought it back to Logan.

"Take off your shirt," James instructed.

"Um," Logan mumbled, his cheeks flushing bright pink. James rolled his eyes and stripped the small boy's shirt away so he could begin rubbing lotion over his horribly red rash. At first, Logan felt weird about it but as soon as the cool lotion hit his burning skin it immediately relieved the itch, and James' gentle massage soothed him right to sleep.

"Oh, that was easy," James said, not even noticing that Logan had fallen asleep until he was finished rubbing the lotion in. He carefully slipped Logan's shirt back on and shut off the lights, than tip-toed out of the room to check on Carlos.

The Latino was sprawled out on his bed in a most uncomfortable-looking position. His head hung off the mattress and James quickly set him straight so that his head rested on a pillow. He thanked his lucky stars that Carlos continued snoring and didn't even stir at the movement. He loved Carlos but right now James didn't think he could handle coddling and worrying over another friend, not until he got some rest. His head was swimming with exhaustion and he looked over at his bed longingly. It looked so warm and inviting and he was so, so tired. He had planned to start making a light, healthy lunch for the boys because they needed to eat _something,_ but James figured it could wait a bit longer. After all, they had just fallen back asleep, and it wouldn't be such a bad thing to rest with them.

Making his decision, James shuffled to his bed and fell down on the fluffy down covers. He buried his face in his pillow and wondered briefly if he should take off his shoes and undress, but now that he was lying down, he realized he was way too tired to get back up. He glanced over at Carlos' bed one last time to make sure the younger boy was still sound asleep. Satisfied, James curled up against his pillow and finally fell asleep.

**A/N Yay, James finally fell asleep! But what's his state going to be when he wakes up? Find out next time on the next installment of "We Can Take The Tears Away" coming to a theater near you.**

**Sorry I always wanted to talk like that. Thanks for reading! Reviews are the firecrackers to my New Year! So blow up my email! Hahaha. Wow I'm lame tonight. Love you all!**


	17. Dependancy

**A/N Thanks for all of the reviews and reads! **

The feeling James had when he woke up was similar to that of being tossed around on a ship sailing fierce waves. He was nauseated and dizzy, it felt like his own bed was moving, and he was certain that the miserable feeling was what woke him up from his short yet blissful slumber.

"Ugh," the brunette groaned, blinking rapidly to get his bearings. He lay still and straight as a board, willing the vertigo to calm down. When the world around him somewhat steadied, he deemed it safe enough to sit up straight, only to waver and fall right back on his pillow when a powerful dizzy spell washed over him. Frustrated, James put his face in his hands and scrubbed wearily at his scruffy skin, realizing for the first time that his cheeks felt unusually hot.

James' first instinct was to call out for Kendall or Logan. He was about to form their names on his lips when he remembered that they were sick and asleep, unable to help him. He buried his face into his pillow, feeling even more upset with himself than he had earlier. It was obvious that he had gotten himself sick, and now he and the other boys were screwed. How was he going to be able to take care of the boys when he could hardly stand up? A million thoughts ran through James' frantic mind, fretting that they would all die miserable, feverish deaths from their afflictions, rotting in their beds until poor Mr. Bitters came and found them days later.

"I don't want to die," James mumbled as he started to tear up, wondering who would come for their rescue.

"You're going to die?" Carlos asked from across the room in a scared voice. James looked over to see 2 huge, unblinking brown eyes and a mop of black hair peering at him nervously from under a pile of blankets.

"No, I'm not going to die," James said. "When did you wake up Carlitos?"

"Like 2 seconds ago. I could have sworn I heard you crying. Are you crying?" Carlos asked, swatting at his throbbing ear.

"No, I'm not crying," James lied.

"Then why is your face red and puffy?" Carlos asked. "You look nasty."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say to somebody like James.

"My face is _red _and _puffy?"_ The conceited boy exclaimed, reaching his fingers up to touch the swollen bags beneath his eyes. Ignoring the dizziness that washed over him and threatened to knock him down, James stumbled to his feet and ran to the bathroom. He caught the granite counter top in front of the sink just in time, almost falling down in weakness. He caught a glimpse of his sickly features in the mirror and gasped, repulsed by what he saw. Carlos was right. His soulful hazel eyes were now dull and watery with fever and misery. His cheeks were scarlet, his face was gray, his lips were white, and his chin was unshaven. He didn't look youthful and gorgeous anymore, he looked like a gross old man, minus the wrinkles. Ok maybe he was being a bit dramatic but he most certainly was not pretty at the moment, and that agitated him because he prided himself in the rare ability to _always stay pretty._

Then it really hit him. He was sick. James Diamond was _sick,_ for the first time in who knows how long. Not only did he feel sick, but he looked it, too.

"No, no, no," James chanted to himself. "It's just an upset stomach! Maybe you ate something bad!"

"_You haven't eaten all day,"_ A deep voice contradicted. Mirror-James suddenly sprung to life and pointed an accusing finger at human James. "_Face it dude. You are sick." _

James was ready to burst into sobs. How was he supposed to have to stay home all week, missing all of his precious dance rehearsals? Not that he wasn't doing that already, but that was because his friends were sick. Now he would have to miss them because he was sick. And the worst part was that he didn't feel good, and he had nobody to take care of him.

"_Hey, what's with the long face?" _Mirror-James asked with fervor, making human James look up sadly. "_This is your chance to shine! You have the opportunity to show your friends that you are capable of more than just singing and dancing. So you better wash your face, spray your Cuda, and take care of some sick people!"_

James brightened at his alter-ego's peptalk. Mirror-James was right. This wasn't about _him._ This was about his friends and taking care of them, no matter how badly he felt. James grinned and nodded, giving Mirror-James a high-five. "That's right!"

"_Who shines brighter than a Diamond?" _Mirror-James asked.

"Nobody!" James yelled victoriously. "I'm going to go shine!" The delusional boy turned around to leave, but Mirror-James halted him.

"_Wait! Don't forget your Cuda!"_

"Right," James said. He grabbed his lucky comb and a can of Cuda Massive Hold, than styled his floppy, unwashed hair. When his auburn locks were presentable he washed his face with cold water to cool his fever and soothe his swollen eyes. He took one last glance in the mirror and when Mirror-James nodded proudly at him, he headed back to his and Carlos' bedroom.

"Hey Carlos, come on downstairs, I want all 3 of you on the couch in 5 minutes," James said with authority, leaning on the doorway for support. He felt so tired, as if he would collapse any moment, but he did his best to ignore the feeling. He had an agenda. He was going to get all of the boys downstairs on the couch so he could easily administer their medicine and make them lunch and care for them without running from room to room.

Carlos made a high-pitched whining sound and slinked down further under the pile of blankets that he had over him. James sighed and waited for a more intelligible response, but none came. He groaned and went over to the tiny heap of blankets and shook it gently, making Carlos whine again.

"'Litos come on, go downstairs. You can't just lie here all day. You need food," James said. "You better be on the couch in 5 minutes." He gave Carlos one more shake and headed to Kendall and Logan's dark, warm bedroom. He clicked on a dim light and sat next to Logan first.

"Logie, come downstairs for a bit. It's time for your medicine," James said sweetly. Logan moaned and itched at his chest uncomfortably.

"I wanna sleep," the sick boy said softly. James felt his forehead. He was very warm and in need of his antibiotics.

"You can sleep in a little bit. I'm worried about you guys, you haven't drank or eaten anything all day or took your medication," James said. Logan nodded.

"Ok, get the other boys up… I'll be down in a second," Logan said. James went over to Kendall next and shook him awake.

"James?" Kendall asked groggily. The taller boy nodded and helped the blonde into a sitting position.

"Come on downstairs for a bit, ok?"

"Ok," Kendall said submissively. So far he was being the most cooperative, but James feared it was because he was the sickest at the moment. His eyes were unfocused and glassy with fever. James helped him out of bed and went back over to Logan, who was still and silent once again, having fallen back asleep.

James muttered with annoyance and picked the tiny boy up, slinging him over his shoulder. He went down to the couch and helped Logan and Kendall sit down. Carlos was already down there, staring at whatever cartoon was playing on the television.

James got to work on positioning pillows behind the sick boys and covering them with blankets. "How are you guys feeling?" He asked, and they all answered at the same time.

"Yucky."

"Pukey."

"Itchy."

James cringed. None of them looked too good. He knew they should eat something, but he feared that if they tried to he would end up with 3 piles of puke on the carpeting. He wrinkled his nose, trying to think through his unusually foggy mind.

"Why are you staring at us?" Logan asked, squirming underneath the tall boy's fixated glare, but James didn't respond. "Er, James? JAMES!"

"WHAT?" James yelled, wondering why Logan was yelling at him. It was making the throbbing in his head hurt worse.

"Are you ok dude? You're acting weird," Logan said with a meek cough.

"And you look gross," Carlos said.

"You look grosser!" James said excitedly. He pouted and stomped to the kitchen, muttering about how unappreciative they were. He went to work on making toast, which he burnt several times.

"Come on stupid toast!" James cried, yelling at the blackened food and throwing it down the sink, where it met its demise with the garbage disposal. He literally growled and set to work on making another round of toast and, after going through half a loaf of bread, he finally got the toast a perfect golden color. He then poured 3 glasses of orange juice and several bottles of medicine for the boys, than piled it all on a tray and carried it out to the boys. He slammed the tray on the coffee table and sat on an armchair, his arms crossed and eyes staring at them expectantly.

"Uh, are you sure you're alright?" Kendall asked.

"I'm fine! Why?" James asked.

"Well you just sorta sounded kind of... Frustrated in the kitchen is all," Logan said timidly.

"Just eat!" James yelled. The sick boys gulped nervously and started nibbling at their toast, feeling a bit hungry after not eating properly for several days. Their bodies were starved, and they had their toast, juice, and medicine finished in no time.

"Can we watch a movie?" Carlos quipped, afraid that James would make him go back to bed after eating. Now that he was awake he didn't want to have to lie down in his boring bed any more.

"Sure," James said. He popped in "The Chronicles of Narnia," which he knew was both Carlos and Logan's favorite (and Kendall had a crush on the eldest girl) before squishing himself between Carlos and the arm of the couch. The Latino grinned and curled into James' side, and the brunette draped an arm around his frail shoulders. For 30 blissful minutes, the room was quiet and comfortable, save for a few coughs here and there. And then the small amount of food they had eaten decided to make itself known.

Carlos was first. He started to squirm and moan against James, which irritated the drowsy brunette.

"Carlos what's wrong?" James asked.

"My tummy hurts again," Carlos whined, holding his middle. He buried his face in James' chest.

"Mine hurts too," Kendall said, rubbing his stomach. Logan froze nervously. He was right in the middle of the 2 and didn't want them to puke on him. He uncurled himself from Kendall's side and sat on the armchair, eyeing them warily.

Without warning, not a hiccup, not even a gag, Carlos' stomach exploded all over his lap. The sounds and smells of Carlos regurgitating sent Kendall into a vomiting fit. Logan closed his eyes and covered his eyes and started singing "Super Bass" in hopes of not throwing up himself.

Kendall looked at James apologetically when he was finished whereas Carlos burst into tears.

"I don't want to throw up anymore, it makes my ear hurt," Carlos wailed. James frowned, reading the frustration and pain in the young boy's eyes. He was tired of being sick, they all were. It had been a long week and none of them were even close to getting better yet.

"James, this is gross," Kendall whined, gesturing to the vomit that was _everywhere._

James gently pushed Carlos off of him, struggling to hold back gags. His stomach was feeling weird too and he knew that if he vomited as well in front of them, he would never live it down. He kept his mouth clamped shut, afraid to open his mouth and accidently throw up, patted Carlos' head and ran to his bedroom. He brought clean clothes down and helped Kendall and Carlos change into them and put the soiled clothes in the laundry, than for what seemed like the millionth time, cleaned and sanitized their messes.

"We're sorry James," Carlos squeaked. He couldn't help but notice that the tall boy seemed slightly agitated at the moment, but James disregarded his fears by placing a light kiss on his hot forehead.

"Stop apologizing, it's not your faults," James assured him. He tucked Carlos in with his favorite blanket, than gathered cool, damp washcloths to place soothingly on each of their foreheads. Carlos and Kendall curled up their legs and settled into the couch, feeling exhausted. Logan still sat on the armchair, listlessly watching the blue lights of the television flash. Once the movie ended, James helped each boy into their beds as it was already early evening and they needed their rests. He took Carlos up first and tucked him in.

"I hope you feel better tomorrow, 'Los," James said tiredly. Carlos outstretched his arms for a hug, which James gratefully accepted.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Carlos whispered. James smiled sadly and rubbed his back.

"But I made you throw up, Carlos."

"You didn't mean to. That was my stupid tummy's fault, not yours. You're doing a really good job so far."

"You mean that?" James wondered.

"Yeah, almost as good as my mom," Carlos said, giving James' back a pat. James smiled. He had needed to hear that.

"Thanks Carlos. Get some sleep and call me if you need anything." James stroked back Carlos' bangs until he fell asleep in a matter of seconds then went to retrieve his other friends from the couch.

Logan was asleep again and this time, James barely had the strength to hoist the small boy in his arms. Kendall noticed this and watched him, concerned.

"James, you better be telling the truth. Are you sure you're ok?" Kendall asked, watching the tall boy waver on his feet.

"I'm fine Kendall, just tired. I haven't exactly gotten much sleep lately and I'm stressed out. I just want to sleep."

Kendall frowned, a bit guilty for not really acknowledging the fact that James was probably freaking out. He was aware that James had never taken care of a sick person in his life and now he was holed up inside a tiny apartment taking care of 3 extremely sick friends. The poor dude was most likely miserable. Kendall made a mental note to pay James back somehow once he was feeling better.

"Well we're getting better. We should be fine in a couple days… Or weeks…" Kendall said, trying to offer some positivity. He wasn't very good at his usually awesome peptalks when he was sick.

James smiled weakly at Kendall and brought Logan to his room, where he laid him down and tucked him in.

"He looks so sick," James commented, stroking Logan's forehead. Kendall sat up in his own bed and glanced over at a sleeping, sweaty Logan. James looked very worried for his younger friend.

"James I'm sorry I was being a dick earlier about being sick," Kendall blurted. "You are busting your butt to take care of us and you're doing a really good job. I'm proud of you. You took over my shoes without one complaint. That's cool of you, James."

James sighed. He didn't feel like he was doing a very good job, especially after Carlos and Kendall had thrown up because of the toast that he had made. "I'm trying, dude. Thanks. Get some sleep. Call me if you need anything."

"Good night James," Kendall said. James shut off the light and exited the room. Finally, the boys were asleep and would be ok for at least a couple of hours, allowing him enough to take a shower and hopefully get some sleep.

The brunette was feeling awfully clammy and hot. He made his way to his bathroom and ran the water, turning the hot water all the way until steam rose from the bottom of the cold tile tub. He quickly stripped away his sweaty clothing and stepped under the shower head, immediately relaxing when the hot water hit his feverish skin. It felt good at first but just a couple minutes later, he started to shiver uncontrollably even though the water was almost scalding in temperature. He realized that the only way he would stop shivering was to get into warm clothes and under his blankets.

James hurried out of the shower and slipped on a pair of boxers and his warm bathrobe, than headed to his bedroom. The darkness welcomed him as soon as he closed his door, and he laid down, too exhausted to get dressed for bed. He was panting lightly, out of breath from simply walking from the bathroom to his bedroom. He moaned and grabbed at his blankets, trying to wrap his body completely in the fluffy fabric. He was freezing, so badly that his teeth literally chattered. It was so weird. He had been burning up just a few minutes ago.

"I'm not sick, I'm not sick," James chanted in a whisper, as if telling himself he wasn't ill would magically cure him from the flu he was sure he had. He didn't even care if he got sick, actually. He just wanted to will it away for a couple of days, until his friends were a little better. They needed him right now, and even though they were letting him know he was doing a good job, he knew that if he admitted he was sick to them, everything would start falling apart. They were depending on him to be the strong one now and honestly, James was sure this was the first time anybody ever depended on him in his life. He kind of liked the feeling, and he didn't want to screw it up because he went and got sick, too. Maybe if he could just sleep for a while, he would be fine.

James' prayers went unanswered because as soon as he felt himself drift off to sleep, a small hand could be felt on his spine, shaking him gently. His eyes immediately watered when much needed sleep started to ebb away slowly. He squirmed away from the hand shaking him, groaning at the nausea the movement was causing him. He lifted his heavy lids to see a pale white face and dark, feverish eyes staring at him.

"Logie Bear, you ok?" James asked, his annoyance replaced with concern.

"I had a nightmare," Logan squeaked, sounding like a little boy. James' heart softened, reminded of when the boys were in 3rd grade and Logan was the tiniest and youngest in their class, having being moved up to the 3rd grade even though he was only 7 years old. James couldn't help but think of how much Logan had grown just in the last year. He wasn't half as shy anymore, and he had beefed up quite a bit since joining the band. But right now he was their little Logie just like he used to be, at least until he was well again.

"Do you want me to tuck you in again?" James asked, sitting up. Logan shook his head.

"N-no, can I… I don't feel very good can I just sleep in here?" Logan asked shyly. His pale cheeks flamed bright red and James couldn't help but grin at his endearing friend. He scooted over in his full-size bed and patted the spot beside him. Logan gratefully crawled in and James covered him up with a blanket.

"Feel better now?" James asked. Logan was still beyond embarrassed and blushed even harder. "Dude, don't be so embarrassed. It's just me."

"Promise me we will never speak of this?" Logan asked. James rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I promise."

"Ok," Logan said. He relaxed a bit and let his head loll on James' shoulder, and James decided he really liked the feeling of being needed.

**A/N Omgosh it's fun to write James losing it. Try it someday, it's addicting. I feel like this chapter was bipolar but oh well. This is like my favorite story I have ever written and it will be leaving us soon, as in it will be finished soon, and knowing me that means it won't be finished in a while (Who understood that?) but anyway if any of you want something to happen before I end this, just let me know and I will try to incorporate it in soon! Next chapter James will be full-blown, can't hide it sick (sorry Country Peach I know I promised you James barf and I gave you Kendall and Carlos barf instead but James' time is coming, my dear)**

**Please review! Love you all! PEACE!**


	18. Popsicles

**A/N Hi. I'm Chanson, and I am going to frolic with big time rush in Houston. And I shall tickle their ankles 'cause I have front row seat… Thingies. Chutes. Whatever those are. What are they, Courtney? And I shall stalk them and me and Courtney shall meet them. I am also going insane because the roof is being worked on and it sounds like bombs going off every SECOND. The entire house is shaking. My diet coke is spilling everywhere. BUT I GET TO SEE BIG TIME RUSH IN CONCERT SO I AM HAPPY DOODLES. OMG I am about to rip my ears right off my face! Stop banging you derfs! I'm bipolar **

"_Elevate a little higher! Throw a party in the sky and celebrate!" _

_James confidently sang his favorite song on one of the biggest stages he had ever performed on, his band and best buddies right by his side with him. He could feel thousands of pairs of eyes on him as the dance moves he spent hours perfecting at rehearsals seemed to flow out of him naturally while he sang his heart out. He was all over the stage, adrenaline and exhilaration giving him more energy than he ever felt before._

"_If you wanna party! And I know you do!" James sang out, but as he belted the words his stomach suddenly twisted painfully, and his words cut short. He tried to continue singing, but his stomach hurt too much. He looked over to Carlos, Logan and Kendall but they just sang over him and ignored his obvious pain for some reason. _

"_Kendall!" James cried out, doubling over and grasping his stomach in pain. "Help me Kendall!"_

_Kendall danced by him, singing the chorus to Elevate as if he weren't even there. James swallowed thickly, feeling bile rise up his esophagus. The brunette let out a cry of pain and released all of his stomach contents right there on the stage. There was a second of stunned silence before the crowd erupted into laughter and pointed at the red faced, gagging boy. James started to cry, willing the heaves to stop. His friends continued to dance around him and sing, as if he wasn't throwing up, as if he didn't desperately need his help. James fell to his knees on the stage and continued to vomit, laughter and ridicule ringing in his ears._

It took several agonizing moments for James to realize that he was not on stage, being humiliated at his own concert for something he could not control. Instead he was in his own bed, being woken up from vomiting in his sleep. It was the most gruesome, uncomfortable feeling James had ever felt in his life as his vomit gushed from his mouth, ravaging his throat in the process, and pooled on his pillow. He closed his watering eyes and waited for the torture to end. After several agonizing moments he finally found the strength to open his eyes and prop himself up on his elbows. The sick boy burst into tears when he saw the hideous mess that he had made on his bed. He frantically stumbled out of bed and away from the disgusting vomit, nearly falling on his butt when a dizzy spell struck him. He stared at his bed dumbfounded for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Finally he settled on ripping the soiled sheets off of the bed and bunched them up in a ball, trapping his mess inside. It was then that he realized something was missing, or rather, someone. Logan and Carlos, who were in the bedroom when he had fallen asleep, were now both absent.

James changed his vomit-streaked t-shirt and gathered his sheets in his arms, then stumbled over to the laundry room, where he shoved the laundry around the agitator of the washer. Careful not to make the mistake of overflowing the machine again, he poured in the right amount of soap and pressed the on button, and the washer came to life loudly.

James turned to leave the tiny room when his stomach did an uncomfortable flip flop. He clutched his middle and moaned at the pain, closing his eyes shut tightly.

"Please stop, please stop," James whined to himself. It had been a very long time since he had been this ill, and he did not like it one bit.

"Hey James, are you up?' Logan's voice rang through the hallway, followed by a weak cough. James stood up straight from his position leaning against the doorway and opened his eyes, trying to look alert and not like he was about to throw up, and entered the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm up," James said. Well, it came out more like a pitiful croaking noise. The tall boy cleared his throat and offered Logan a smile.

"Well it's about time," Logan teased, his skinny fingers going furiously at an exceptionally itchy patch of skin on his arm. "You have been sleeping all day. It's 7 0 clock at night. Carlos and Kendall are watching TV. Kendall was starting to wonder if you're still alive."

James' eyes widened. 'It's 7? PM?" He asked. He would have never guessed he had still was.

"Yeah…" Logan said slowly, growing a bit concerned. James didn't look so good. He inched forward and looked his friend over carefully. "How're you feeling?"

James leaned back and raised his eyebrows. "Not bad, why do you ask?" The pretty boy asked nonchalantly.

"Carlos was telling me that you were a bit sick earlier," Logan said.

"Carlos," James cursed under his breath. He put on a huge, Diamond-like smile and shrugged. "No, I was just really tired but I'm good now."

Logan did not look convinced. "Why are you hunched over? You always have good posture."

James quickly straightened up fully, ignoring the unsettling feeling in his tummy that the movement brought him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You look pale," Logan said, jabbing a finger at James' cheek.

"Why are you giving me the ringer? You're the sick one!" James said, deciding to turn the tables. "You need to go lie down on the couch and eat soup or whatever it is that sick people do."

Logan was about to argue when Carlos' pained voice interrupted him.

"Logieeeeeee!" Carlos called. He let out a loud whimper and carried out again. "Logie!"

Logan sighed. He really wanted to find out what was wrong with James. Something seemed off about the taller boy, and he didn't want to just ignore the signs in case he was really sick, which was a very real possibility. James had a high germ tolerance, but at the same time, their little apartment had been a germ harvesting field for a week now and it would be kind of impossible for him _not _to get sick.

"We'll talk about this later," Logan warned James.

James glared at Logan crossly. "There's nothing to talk about-"

"Logie!' Carlos cried again. The aspiring doctor turned on his heel and headed down to the Latino, followed by James.

James frowned in worry when he saw how pale and sweaty his youngest friend appeared, wrapped tightly in his blankets. He looked like he was in a feverish daze, and he reached out his arms when he saw Logan come towards him as if he were a 5 year old again.

"His fever is spiking again," Logan said with his palm on Carlos' hot forehead. He turned to James for assistance. He wanted to take care of Carlos, but he wasn't feeling so good himself and needed James' help. "Can you find me the thermometer?"

"Yeah, just sit down with Carlos," James said. He put his hand on Logan's back and sat him down on the couch, and Carlos rested his head on Logan's lap for comfort. "Stay here and I'll be right back."

"I don't feel good," Carlos moaned out, resting his knuckles on his forehead. 'I'm hot and my ear hurts."

"I'll fix it buddy, hold on," James said. He ruffled Carlos' fluffy black hair and scurried around the house for a thermometer, several bottles of pills, and 3 bottles of ice cold water. When he returned to the living room, he had to hold back a frown and a groan of pity at the sight of Kendall, Carlos and Logan huddled on the couch close together, as to keep their shuddering, fever-wracked buddies warm. They were all much paler than they had been before he had gone to sleep, and he knew the he was the only one to blame for that. He had basically neglected his friends when they needed him just because he was a bit tired and dizzy.

"I'm so sorry I fell asleep buddy," James said as he slipped the thermometer under Carlos' tongue. The Latino looked up at him with feverish, puppy dog eyes. He didn't speak, but James could easily read the forgiveness in them. It didn't help the brunette feel any less guilty.

"You need your sleep too," Kendall spoke up. "We all noticed you have been looking tired. We were fine all day."

"Then why is Carlos' temperature over one hundred and four again?" James asked, pulling the small device out of his friend's mouth and reading the number. Logan swore under his breath and grabbed the thermometer out of James' hand so he could read the numbers himself.

"We need to cool him down," Logan said. He attempted to get off the couch to rush around to help Carlos, but James shoved him right back down on his butt and shoved the thermometer in his mouth. Logan glared at him in annoyance.

'"Dude, I-"

"Ssh, no talking!" James said. Logan folded his arms defiantly, but waited patiently for the thermometer to beep.

"You are burning up to Logie! One hundred and two degrees. None of you guys are getting up from this couch," James said. "I'm going to go get some cool washrags and when I come back, I want all of you to have taken your medicine." James gestured to the bottles of pills that he had strewn out on the coffee table and gave them each a look that meant business before heading to the bathroom to gather cold washcloths for their foreheads. He found some clean ones in the bathroom cabinet and went about running them under ice cold water when he was suddenly struck by an intense dizzy spell. His knees wavered as the room spun, and his hands flailed uselessly as he tried to grab onto something, anything- but it was no use. The walls seemed to tumble and his body collided roughly against tile with a dull "thud."

James stared at the spinning ceiling, slightly dazed form his sudden fall. He groaned and struggled to sit up, which took way more energy than it should have. His stomach was achy and icky feeling, and he feared he might throw up again.

"Jamie!" Carlos cried, desperate for relief from his raging fever. James groaned and put his face in his hands, wondering how this could have happened. He was healthy, he always had been. Aside from a sore throat once in a while, he _never _got sick. He simply did not know what to think of it, other than that he was disappointed in himself. His friends were relying on him to take care of them, and here he was, lying on the bathroom floor trying to hold back his vomit.

"Jamie!" Carlos cried again, tears in his voice this time. James forced himself to stand up and caught a glimpse of his poor reflection in the mirror. He looked worse than he had before. He only hoped that Logan, Kendall and Carlos were too sick to notice his illness. They couldn't find out that he had come down with something, not until they were on their way to recovery.

"I'm coming 'Litos!" James croaked out, and he cringed when the yelling hurt his sore throat. He splashed freezing water on his face, blinked rapidly, and grabbed the washcloths for his friends.

"Dude, are you alright?" Kendall asked in alarm when James emerged from the bathroom. "We heard a loud bang and you wouldn't answer Carlos."

James waved him off and set a cold rag on the blonde's sweaty forehead. He did the same for Carlos and James. "I'm fine I just dropped a… A thing. Carlos, are you ok buddy?" James knelt down and placed his hand on the Latino's tan, flushed cheek. Carlos was moaning and grabbed onto James' arm, hugging it to his chest like a teddy bear. "You don't look so good."

Logan and Kendall shared a concerned glance as the tall boy fretted over Carlos. They knew James better than the egotistical teenager knew himself. They could easily tell he was hiding something.

"Logie what can I do for his fever?" James asked pleadingly. He looked up at the young doctor as he ran his fingers through Carlos' sweaty tufts of hair. His little buddy was sick and hurting. There had to be something he could do. Hadn't he watched him suffer enough?

"His body needs to cool down," Logan said, deciding to leave James alone for a moment. It would be useless to try to get him to admit illness when Carlos was so sick. "Carlos, buddy is your tummy still hurting you?"

"Not really, just my ear," Carlos said. He buried his face in Logan's lap and coughed miserably.

"There's some ice cream in the freezer, that might make him feel better and cool him down now that his stomach isn't queasy anymore," Logan offered.

"Oooh can you bring me a popsicle? The red kind?" Kendall asked, his green eyes lighting up hopefully.

"I want green!" Carlos chimed. James smiled. Pigging out on popsicles sounded like a good idea right now, considering how thirsty and over-heated he suddenly was feeling. He headed to the freezer and pulled out a large box of popsicles to set on the counter, but stayed standing in front of the freezer with the door wide opened for a moment. He brought a shaky hand to his face and wiped away the layer of sweat that he just realized covered his forehead and cheeks. He felt so much better standing in the bitter cold air of the freezer, but his bliss was short-lived when once again Carlos started yelling for him, begging for his popsicles because he was hot.

James grabbed the popsicles and brought them to his friends, who reached their hands in and grabbed the frozen treats greedily. They tore open the packages and licked the icy, sugary popsicles, immediately feeling a bit cooler.

"Aren't you going to have a popsicle?" Kendall asked James as he sucked on 2 popsicles, one in each hand. One was red and the other was orange.

The brunette shrugged. He didn't want to upset his stomach any further than it already was, but Kendall offered him a lemon popsicle and stared at him expectantly, because James Diamond would never refuse a popsicle unless he was very, very sick.

"Fine I will have one," James said, not wanting to make his friends suspicious. He could already constantly feel their scrutinizing eyes on him. He unwrapped his lemon popsicle and took a chunk out of it with his teeth, wanting to finish it as quick as he could. He finished it in 3 bites, and just that tiny bit of food made his stomach churn painfully. He really hoped he wouldn't end up regretting eating that.

"Feel better 'Litos?" James asked, trying to take his mind off of his stomach. Carlos nodded and smiled.

"It made my throat feel better too," Carlos said with a smile. James sighed with relief.

"You guys go ahead and get some sleep," James said, shutting off the living room lights. He covered each his friends with a blanket and sat next to Logan, glad that one more day was finally close to over. All he had to do was keep an eye on their fevers for a couple of hours and hopefully he could go right to sleep.

Logan leaned into James' comfortable side and closed his eyes, but he was worried when he felt his friends' body slightly heaving. James was out of breath and seemed to have hard time catching it.

The smaller boy glanced at James to find his complexion a pale, sickly gray. Logan was almost certain that James was sick now. His heart pounded in concern. When would James actually admit it?

Logan pulled out his phone and texted Kendall: "_Dude, James is sick. Look at him_." Logan pressed send, and Kendall pulled out his cell, read the text and leaned forward to look at James. He cringed and bit his chapped lip, studying James' face discreetly before typing a message.

Logan read his message from Kendall: "_Does he have a fever_?"

The small brunette leaned in closer to James, who was watching TV intently, and rested his head on the tall boy's neck. He could feel the heat radiating onto his cheek, and he leaned forward and nodded to Kendall, who mouthed "Damn it," as he watched James struggle to simply keep his eyes open. The brunette kept catching himself each time his head would lull to the side, forcing his eyes to stay glued to the TV.

"_Why is he hiding it?" _Logan asked over text. Kendall shrugged, perplexed, and texted back;

"_I don't know, pride? Denial? It's not like I was in a hurry to admit it, either. He's in the same boat I was in. We just have to catch it before he ends up in the hospital like we did."_

Logan nodded to Kendall. He couldn't watch James deteriorate like they all had. He just wondered how they were going to function during the week with all 4 of them so sick.

**A/N I really hate this chapter! Maybe I am being emotional! Am I being emotional or was it really bad? It was bad! *bangs head on counter***

**Please review? *sniffle***

**I really wanna popsicle now dammit.**


	19. The long night

**A/N Omg so I apologize for the immense amount of typos in the last chapter, and I also thank everyone for not pointing them out because that would have made me vomit and possibly cry. I don't handle mistakes. You guys know me well. Thanks for reviews and patience and still reading this story! If I could I would make all of you a homemade candle lol.**

James refused to fall asleep, even though he could feel the stubborn, knowing eyes of his friends studying him, just waiting for him to break. Logan and Kendall were stubborn, but James could prove to be even more hard-headed than both of them combined when he wanted to. It almost seemed like a game now, or a competition, who could keep their eyes open the longest. James was starting to wonder if Kendall and Logan had bet money on each other to see who could get him to admit illness first, but James wasn't caving, and after 2 long hours, James finally won out from the sole fact that Kendall and Logan's pain medication finally succeeded in knocking them unconscious.

James kept a close eye on all 3 of their fevers. He was so busy making sure they had cool washcloths on their foreheads and enough fever reducers in their bloodstreams that he completely forgot that he, too, had a slowly rising fever that was creeping up higher and higher. He ignored how hot and worn out he felt to make sure his 3 sick buddies were comfortable and safe.

Carlos had the worst night out of all of the boys. He ran the highest fever and had nightmares plague him all night long. James finally had to pick him up off of the couch and carry Carlos to the recliner, away from the other boys because he was fussy and kicked about too much. James situated a pillow behind his head and placed a light blanket over his shivering body. Even though Carlos was shivering and seemed cold, something told James that he shouldn't let the younger boy get too hot.

"J-James?" Carlos asked in a tiny, hoarse voice. His fever-glazed dark eyes fluttered open to tiny slits as James tucked the blanket around his shoulders.

"Hey buddy, I'm right here," James whispered, kneeling in front of Carlos and touching the sick boy's hot cheek with his palm. "You alright?"

Carlos coughed weakly and curled up on his side. "Sick," he answered after the brief coughing fit. He seemed to be only capable of giving one-worded answers. James frowned and stroked his black, sweaty hair off of his blazing forehead. He wondered when the fever would finally break and leave the poor boy's body alone already. He wasn't sure how much more Carlos could take.

"Do you need anything, Carlos? Are you hungry or thirsty?" James asked. Carlos blinked and coughed again. For a moment, James wondered if Carlos even heard him, because he was silent for several seconds, and then he mumbled something inaudible.

"What was that buddy?" James asked, continuing to stroke his hair to comfort him.

"Mami," Carlos said louder. His small, frail body shook with a tremor, and he whimpered and pulled his blanket across his shoulders tighter.

"No, it's James. I know you want your mom but she's not here. You got me instead, ok?" the brunette said, tangling his fingers in Carlos' shorts tufts of hair. He stroked his scalp with his fingertips while Carlos continued to whimper, and James murmured "Ssh, it's ok," over and over again.

"Here, drink some water," James said, grabbing a water bottle from the coffee table and tilting it against Carlos' chapped lips. He was so sick and dehydrated that his lips were no longer pink, but literally white. Carlos thirstily drank several ounces of the cool water, then settled back onto his pillow and started fidgeting, trying desperately to become comfortable, which was nearly impossible with such a high fever. James just hoped that he wouldn't have to yet again bring Carlos to the doctor. But he would have to stay up all night and keep a very close eye on him if he wanted to avoid the hospital.

James sat back on his heels and pressed a hand to his temple, trying to rub away the pounding ache that was there. He wasn't feeling so good, but he was way too worried about Carlos' health to care. He wouldn't rest until he knew his friends would be alright. He had never seen anybody so_ sick_ as his friends were now, and the thought that something really, really bad could happen to them was constantly nagging at the back of his mind, making him feel anxious and panicky. Every little single cough or moan that came from one of their mouths, he was right there to check their temperature with the back of his hand, offer juice if they were half awake, or rub their backs to make them feel ok instead of scared.

Carlos whimpered loudly and rubbed at his ear, his eyes scrunched tight. A couple tears escaped from his tightly closed lids. His ear was in so much pain that even his meds weren't doing a good enough job. Every time he swallowed, coughed, or even moved at all his ear would scream and throb in pain.

"Does your ear hurt?" James asked. He felt like that was a stupid question. Of course his ear hurt, it had been hurting for days and was trying to heal from a popped eardrum. James couldn't even imagine the pain that he was probably in.

"Momma, it hurts," Carlos cried. His voice was heartbreaking and resembled a little child's. James frowned and placed his hand on his cheek, stroking his thumb gently along his cheekbone.

"It's ok Carlos, just relax. I'll be right back," James said softly. He got to his feet a little too quickly. Dizziness made him sway, and the feeling did not pass as quickly as it should have, but he managed to shake it off and walk to the bathroom. His movements were slow and he felt like he was trying to move through a wall of jello, but he ignored it and grabbed another washcloth. He soaked it with hot water, folded it into a neat square, and brought it back to Carlos and pressed it gently against his damaged ear.

"There, is that better?" James cooed. Carlos' moaning turned into tiny, barely audible whimpers, so James took that as a yes. He was still crying though. James sighed, trying to think of what he could to stop the tears. His heart thudded in his chest with pity every time he saw one of those crystal tears leak out of Carlos' eyes.

"Don't cry Carlos," James said feebly. Carlos sniffled and buried his face in his pillow, his mind too cloudy with fever to even realize James was talking to him. He was lost in his own, feverish, miserable world and everything else was a haze at the moment. But he did feel it when 2 large, strong, arms encased him in a warm grasp and lifted him slightly. He moaned at the odd, queasy feeling of being lifted up, but before he could fuss over it he was being settled into a soft, warm lap. His head lulled against James' sturdy chest, and he relaxed and leaned into the embrace when James started rubbing his back in a gentle, soothing rhythm.

"Go to sleep buddy, you need to rest," James said, holding his little brother to his chest tightly. "I won't let anything happen to you. You aren't going back to that hospital. You're safe at home, and when you wake up you'll feel better."

James had to speak softly and rub his back for several minutes, but finally Carlos settled down and drifted off into sleep, his face nuzzled into James' neck and his arms wrapped around his waist. James could feel the fever radiating off of the sick boy and onto his chest and neck. The younger boy shivered incessantly in his arms, but was sweating profusely. He was just having a hard time fighting the fever, and it concerned James. He wished he could wake up Logan and ask him if what he was doing was right. But all he could do was pray that he hadn't been lying to Carlos when he said that he would feel better in the morning.

**A/N I am sorry that was so short! I've been sooo busy, plus just now I got some honeysuckle lotion in my eye by accident and it feels like I am going blind while tiny trolls stab me in the eye with pitchforks. But at least I got some cute Jarlos whumpiness in there for all you Jarlos.. whumper.. lovers out there. Now I need to either go to sleep or rip out my own eyeball cause this is the worst pain ever. I'm sincerely afraid that I am going to look like a swollen eyed freak tomorrow.**

**Reviews are the cupid to my heart. Is Carlos going to be ok? Is James going to be ok? Hmm, I wonder!**


	20. toast and blankets

**A/N Thanks for all of the reviews last chapter! They light up my life! Who wants some Kogan bromance, cause there's lots in this chappie! **

**Hey also if you guys can, please check out my note on my profile, it's kind of important. Thank you!**

When Kendall woke up, he was aware of two things. One was that he was feeling better than he had since he came down with the flu, though he still felt icky. This annoyed him, because on the rare occasion that he was sick, it was always just a cold that lasted a couple days. He wasn't used to the flu, but at least he could tell upon waking up that he would be able to move on a very slow function, which brought him a small amount of relief.

The second thing Kendall noticed was a somewhat heavy, sweaty weight on his chest. He squirmed and opened his eyes to see a tuft of jet-black hair underneath his nose. The bundle on his chest stirred and the fluff of hair tickled his nose, making him sneeze.

"Logie is that you?" Kendall asked, wincing at the pain in his throat.

The bundle with the black hair moaned and smacked his lips before letting out a sleepy grumble, annoyed at being woken up.

Kendall sighed and lifted a heavy, tired hand to pat Logan's back. The smaller boy's cheek was pressed against Kendall's chest and he could feel the warmth of his fever radiating through the fabric of his pajama top.

"Logie, I have to pee…" Kendall said.

Logan grumbled once more before fully awakening. He pushed himself off of Kendall, his cheeks tingeing pink with embarrassment.

"Oh! Sawwy, Ken'all. I mub hab fallen abeep…" Logan quickly apologized, but his nose was too stuffed up to pronounce the words properly. Kendall smirked and handed his little, ill friend a tissue, understanding him perfectly.

"It's ok, buddy. I don't mind. How are you feeling?"

"Ugh, sib and weab," Logan answered. He paused to blow his nose with a loud "honk!" so he could speak without sounding stuffed up. "I mean, sick and weak. And itchy." Logan coughed into his elbow and sighed. He closed his eyes and leaned into Kendall's touch when the caring blonde reached over and petted his bangs back. "What about you?"

"I've been better, but definitely been worse. I'll be right back, I'm going to go pee," Kendall said. He offered Logan a small smile and headed to the bathroom.

Logan coughed again and sighed with aggravation. He didn't feel good and he was ready for this sickness to end, not only for him but for his friends, too. The brunette leaned back against the couch and looked over to where Carlos and James were snuggled up on a chair, snoring loudly. Logan chuckled despite his sore throat. They looked awfully adorable all curled up together. Carlos was sprawled on top of James, and the pretty boy's head was resting on top of Carlos' curls. James had the younger boy in a tight, protective embrace.

Logan decided to let James sleep for a while, because he was sure that he had stayed up all night taking care of them. Logan could recall waking up a couple of times during the night burning with fever, and James was right there each time with a cool rag and water and medicine.

"Looks like they had a long night," A scratchy voice said. Logan looked over to see Kendall walking back from the bathroom, smiling at his 2 cuddly friends.

"Yeah, they've been up all night I think," Logan said. "Let's do our best to keep them asleep as long as possible, they need it."

Kendall nodded and sat down on the couch, already feeling weak from the small amount of walking he had done. "Yeah, ok, sounds good. Let's just watch some TV." Kendall turned the television on and made sure the volume was almost all the way down. A couple of minutes filled with coughing and sniffling went by before the blonde realized something. "Wait, who's going to take care of us?"

Logan turned his head, and feverish green eyes met glazed over brown ones, each pair reflecting a bit of panic. "I didn't think of that."

"We can barely talk clearly, Logan. How are we going to survive the morning? Maybe we should wake up James."

"No, we can do this," Logan said after a moment of contemplating. Waking James seemed like a very enticing idea considering Logan didn't feel like he could so much as move a muscle by himself, but he remembered how tired and pale James had appeared the other night. He needed his sleep before he ended up just as sick as the rest of them were.

"How hard can it be, Kendall?" Logan asked when the blonde looked at him with the saddest, weakest green eyes he had ever seen. "We can take care of ourselves for a little bit."

"But I don't feel good," Kendall groaned, throwing his head back, but the movement only made him cough violently. "And I want somebody to do stuff for me."

"Well I'm itchy, but we can do stuff for each other. I'll help you and you help me." Logan wiped his consistently running nose. "We should probably take some medicine first."

"Yeah," Kendall said, scooting forward on the couch to reach the huge collection of bottles filled with cough syrup and pills that cluttered the wooden top of the coffee table. With shaky hands, he did his best to administer a spoonful of medicine to Logan, than handed him his antibiotics with an old bottle of water that was lying around.

"I'm hungry," Kendall said after taking his medicine.

"The kitchen seems so far away," Logan groaned, looking at the colorful kitchen which was only about 20 feet from the couch.

"Come on, we'll help each other remember?" Kendall offered. He snaked a lanky arm around Logan's waist and together they stood up on wobbly knees. Supporting each other's weight, the two sick teenagers made it to the kitchen, where they both collapsed on the bar stools.

"Ok, what do you want to eat?" Logan asked. Kendall thought a moment. He hadn't really eaten much of anything besides toast and popsicles the past few days, so it was a hard choice.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe more toast? And 7up?"

"More toast it is," Logan said. He slid out of his chair and stuck some bread in the toaster, then went about getting jelly, cups, and 7up. Kendall helped by gathering plates and pouring the soda. By the time the toast was done and they were finally seated at the counter, the poor boys were exhausted and out of breath.

"This is pathetic," Logan said with a wheeze.

"Yeah," Kendall said, chewing a small bite of toast. The grape jelly was strong and sweet on his dehydrated tongue, making him cringe. "But at least we can finally eat without vo-"

"Don't say the 'v'-word," Logan warned, feeling his stomach bubble with nausea just at the thought of the gruesome word. He would be perfectly happy if he never threw up again after this week. The 4 boys had done enough vomiting to last a lifetime over the past several days.

"Right," Kendall agreed. The duo finished their breakfast together, lazily threw the dishes into the sink, and went back to the soft, comfy relief of their beloved couch to watch tv.

"I'm cold," Logan whined 15 minutes later. There were blankets scattered all over the room, but none close to the couch.

Kendall gathered up all of his strength to grab a random fluffy blue and orange blanket off of the floor. "I'm freezing, so you have to promise to share."

Logan nodded, grasping the fluffy fabric in his hands and pulling half the blanket on top of his lap. Kendall helped draped the blanket over his shoulders and sat close to Logan, resting his warm head on top of the small boys shoulder. He gathered the blanket in his fists and covered as much of his body as he could, cuddling it to his chest, but Logan was a notorious blanket hog and Kendall didn't have the heart to pull it away from him.

"You're shaking," Logan observed, feeling the blonde shudder against his side. Kendall moaned and nodded, and Logan leaned in closer and shared some more of the warm blanket with him. Kendall could only smile gratefully, too weak to use any real words. They both wore themselves out just by the small amount of physical exertion that morning. Kendall didn't think they could get through the rest of the day by themselves. The blonde looked over to James, who was still out like a light, and hoped that the brunette would be awake soon to save them.

**A/N Sorry it was short, my battery is about to die and I'm babysitting so I don't have a charger! Next chapter, James wakes up, and it's not going to be pretty. **

**Reviews are the syrup to my eggos! And I really love waffles, sooo... You know what to do ;) Love you guys!**


	21. Through the stormy weather

**A/N Hey I just met you**

**And this is CRAZY!**

**But here's my URL**

**So follow me maybe?**

**Haha my tumblr is danceit-elevateit and my twitter is Channy_Girl20! Follow me! I always follow back. Letting me know who you are is always appreciated so I know who exactly I am following. And thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! Love ya'll!**

**One more A/N cause I'm a turd and can't shut up: Logan in a beanie. Omg. How cute is that? I have never seen anything more sexy-coma inducing than that kid in a beanie. Like I just want to take off his beanie and play hide and go seek with it behind my back while he's all rolling his eyes and being like "Omg come on Chanson you do this every time I wear one of these" and then I shag his hair with my fingers and put the beanie back on his head, pulling it over his ears and eyes and run away trilling like a munchkin while he's just like -_-**

James felt like he was drowning. It was the scariest feeling he ever experienced. He was still in the deep throws of sleep when the ordeal happened, which only made it even more confusing. He coughed himself awake, and the feeling was similar to that of coughing up a lung. It made his whole body hurt. His eyes shot open with surprise and he curled into a ball, pushing an unsuspecting, sleeping Carlos off of his lap by accident. Concerned voices swarmed in his ear but he couldn't tell them apart. He was too busy concentrating on the pain in his chest.

"Ahh, it hurts," James groaned out between coughs. He felt a hand run up and down his back, giving him a few gentle pats every now and then. Finally, the fit was over and he was able to take a deep, wheezy breath.

"Dude, what was that?" Kendall's voice asked from beside him. James blinked groggily and looked to find that Kendall was the one who had been rubbing his back and attempting to comfort him. Logan stayed seated on the couch with his knees pulled to his chest, his feverish doe-like brown eyes wide with alarm. Carlos was now on the floor, still fast asleep from his last dose of pain medication.

"I must have-" James tried to cover up his intense cough with an excuse, but his voice cracked as if he were a 13 year old boy again. He cleared his throat, which was quite painful because it felt like pins and needles were lodged in there, and tried again. "I must have swallowed wrong."

Kendall stared at James with his piercing green eyes the expression of "Are you kidding me?"

"James that is pathetic," Kendall said plainly. James chose to ignore the blonde leader.

"What time is it guys? How long have I been out for?" James asked, discreetly trying to change the subject. Kendall's face fell with frustration and disappointment.

"It's 2 pm," Kendall answered.

"What? Why didn't you wake me up?" James demanded, sounding a bit angry. Kendall flinched.

"Because you haven't slept for long and we thought it would be best if you rested up a bit," Kendall defended weakly. He coughed and rubbed his forehead. James was already giving him a headache.

"Logan," James whined, figuring that Kendall was the one behind that logic. "Why did you let Kendall do that? I'm the only one who's still healthy. I'm supposed to be taking care of you guys. Now Carlos is burning up…" James paused long enough to bend down and press a hand to Carlos' burning forehead, and the movement caused him a slight bit of nausea. He sat up and swallowed thickly, praying he wouldn't throw up, and continued on his little rant. "And you two look like complete hell. When's the last time any of you took your medicine?"

Logan, who resembled a timid and frightened bunny sitting on the couch, looked up and spoke in a meek voice. "Actually, it was my idea James. I don't really think you're one hundred percent healthy anymore. Getting adequate sleep had to be your number one priority over helping us. You won't be any good to us sick, would you?" Logan asked, not realizing that those words would stab James like a knife and come back to haunt him. "Kendall and I handled the morning just fine and we took all our medicine and can I please stop talking now because my throat really hurts."

James looked annoyed the whole time Logan spoke until the last part, when his face fell into one of sympathy. He looked a Logan's flush cheeks and the way he clawed at his itchy skin and figured he was wasting time arguing when he could be taking care of his buddies.

"Whatever, I'm awake now and I'm fine," James said, though he knew in his gut that he was anything but fine. He felt worse than he had before he fell asleep, if that was even possible. His head swam dizzyingly, his throat and chest hurt, and he felt weak and feverish. "I'll get you some cream for your rash…" James marched to the bathroom and closed the door so he could spend a minute washing his face with cold water and trying to wake up. He still felt so groggy, even more tired than he was last night even though he slept for a long time, or longer compared to the hours he had been getting, anyway.

When James looked in the mirror, he knew there would be no denying that he was sick. His usually tan and beautiful skin was gray, marred by splotches of red where he was flushed with fever. Sweat lined his brow and his hands were shaking ever so slightly. If you looked closely, you could tell his chest was heaving because he was short on breath, and Logan would be sure to be the one to look closely and notice this.

Unfortunately, Mirror James didn't make an appearance this time. Maybe even Mirror James was agreeing that he was sick. But the fact that he was sick didn't matter. His friends were counting on him and he wasn't about to let them down.

Grabbing a tube of calamine lotion, James exited into the living room and slathered the thick cream onto Logan's rash. The brunette sighed and looked up at him thankfully. James just nodded.

After Logan was comfy, or as comfy as he could be considering his health status, James lifted a sleeping Carlos off of the floor and set him on the chair. Finally, the Latino woke up with a miserable groan.

"Hey, you. How are you feeling?" James asked, covering the boy up with a blanket.

Carlos coughed. "A little better."

"Really?" James asked, surprised. It was the first tiny bit of good news he had heard all week. He rested his hand on his forehead and found it still be warm, but not burning up like he had been. James couldn't help but to smile with relief and give him a quick hug. "That's great, buddy. I'm glad to hear it. Do you want to eat?"

Carlos thought for a moment, rubbing his stomach. He found it didn't hurt anymore. "Yeah, can I have toast?"

"Yeah, of course you can Carlos. Take your medicine and I'll make you your breakfast." James turned and smiled at Kendall and Logan, who looked just as relieved as he did that at least one of them was finally on the road to recovery.

James made Carlos a plate of plain toast and fruit and a glass of juice and brought it to him. The younger boy uncurled himself on the chair and ate his food slowly, as to not upset his stomach.

"We are all feeling better and we took our medicine and everything," Kendall said. "I think you can sit down and relax for a little bit, James."

"Yeah, watch a movie with us!" Carlos said eagerly, scooting over so James could squeeze in next to him on the giant arm chair. James couldn't deny Carlos' excitement, especially when it had been so long since he was happy about anything.

"Alright we'll watch _another_ movie," James said, rolling his eyes simply for show. To be honest, all he wanted to do was cuddle up and watch a movie and just not move for about a year.

The boys chose a scary movie, which wasn't the greatest idea because there was a storm brewing outside the apartment, meaning thunder and lightning that seemed to coincide perfectly with every scene that featured the axe murderer chopping up his victims. Carlos clung to James tightly the whole movie. Every time he would scream, James would wince at the sharp pain slicing through his brain. He had a killer headache and wondered if he should take some medicine. But then he remembered that taking medicine was showing weakness, and he wanted to prove to the guys that he was fine, and that he could handle just a stupid little cold. James Diamond never got horribly sick anyway. He would probably just feel rundown the rest of the day and wake up good as new. So there was no real need for any medicine, anyway.

James kept a constant check on his friend's temperatures and health. Their fevers stayed low grade most of the afternoon, and they even ate the chicken noodle soup he made for them for dinner. Logan wasn't as itchy and Carlos' ear wasn't hurting as badly. James thought the worst was finally over.

But about an hour after dinner, James noticed Kendall started acting kind of funny. He was curled up tightly on the couch and rubbed his stomach, closing his eyes shut tightly even though they chose his favorite movie to watch that evening. He was shivering slightly and a cold sweat glistened upon his brow.

"James, look at Kendall," Logan whispered from beside the blonde. He ran his pale fingers through his hair and touched his forehead. "He's hot, too."

James nudged Carlos, and the Latino moved off his lap so he could kneel in front of Kendall. "Kendall, bro what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kendall said quickly, opening his green eyes, which wore a mask of pain. James sighed.

"Don't tell me that, Kendall," James said, his patience already wearing thin. "Let me what's wrong. I can fix it."

Despite his illness, Kendall found the perfect opportune moment to put up a fight and force James to admit that he, too, was sick.

"Not until you tell me that you're sick," Kendall said. James just blinked, taken aback.

"Really, Kendall? You're bringing this up again? This isn't about me, dude! You're obviously in a lot of pain, why won't you just admit it?"

"Why won't you just admit that you're sick," Kendall said, his voice raising slightly. "You have to let us take care of you, too, you know. Or I won't let you take care of me."

Kendall wasn't sure why he gave James that ultimatum, but he must have forgotten that James was just as stubborn as he was. The brunette agreed with a shrug.

"Fine, take care of yourself than. But I'm not the one who has a raging fever and looks like he's about to vomit. I have a little cough and low-grade fever at worst."

"That's how it always starts out, James. But it's going to keep getting worse and worse until you're as sick as us, unable to even move from the couch and then where will we be? We'll have nobody to take care of us."

"That's all you really care about, isn't it?" James asked. He knew he was being completely ridiculous but he couldn't help but to snap at someone. He was angry that he was sick and had to take it out on something, and unfortunately that something just happened to be his best friend. "Who's going to make you tea and fluff your pillows? You're not really concerned with how I feel so I don't know why you bother asking!"

"That's not true," Kendall said, his voice a little weaker this time. He curled in on himself tighter and massaged his belly. His stomach was doing violent loop-di-loops now.

James rubbed his forehead, ignoring how heated his skin felt there. "Look, this is my one chance to prove to you guys that I'm more than just a pretty face or a flawless voice. I can be more than that. And some stupid cold isn't going to mess that up."

"James..." Logan started, his heart dropping to his stomach at James' words.

"No, don't, Logan," James said. "You all know it's true. I don't contribute anything to this friendship besides 'The Face' and that means nothing. You guys are right, I won't do you any good if I'm sick. I'm never any good even when I'm well. So please stop worrying about me because I'm not going to stop until all 3 of you are perfectly healthy again, even if it kills me."

Kendall, Logan and Carlos were speechless. They had no idea that James felt this way. They didn't know what to do, and being that they were sick, there was nothing they really could do.

James sat down and rested his swarming head in his hands. His little blow-up exhausted him. It didn't make him feel good to get that all off of his chest, it only made him feel worse. Because James was convinced that everyone in the room, and probably everyone in the entire Palmwoods, knew that his words were true. He was good for nothing unless he was on that stage. He couldn't even take care of his friends properly.

"You're doing a good job, James," a small voice said. James blinked away budding tears and looked towards Carlos, who offered him a tiny smile. James just shook his head.

"No, I'm not. Kendall has a spiking temperature and looks like he's dying. I know your ear still hurts, Carlos. You can barely swallow your food without cringing. Logan's still itchy. And who blows up at their friends when they're sick?"

"You can't help that stuff," Logan said. "We're sick, and we can't just magically get better. You've been here for us and that's more than we can ask. We understand that you're under a lot of pressure."

"Yeah but if you or Kendall were in my position, you would be handling it perfectly."

"That's not true James," Logan said. "Right Kendall?... Kendall? Hey, you alright?"

Kendall didn't respond. He was whimpering and moaning softly, rocking back and forth with his arms around his middle. A couple of tears escaped his closed eyelids, mixing with the sweat running down his face.

"Oh God, Kendall?" James asked, at the sick boy's side in less than a second. He supported Kendall from underneath him and lifted him into a sitting position. Kendall leaned against James chest and moaned louder this time. Something inside him told James to get Kendall to the bathroom, quickly.

"It's ok bud, I have you," James whispered, lifting him up into his arms. James' muscles, which were weak with fever, threatened to buckle but he somehow made it to the bathroom. He gently placed Kendall on the floor and lifted the toilet seat. "It's ok, Kendall, just let it out."

Kendall whimpered and shook his head, trying to turn away from the toilet. James wrapped an arm around his shoulders and held him for a moment.

"You have to get it out of you, Kendall, or it will only get worse," James said.

"It hurts," Kendall whimpered.

"I know it does, I'm sorry. I really am. I would take it all away if I could," James said sincerely. "I hate seeing you this sick, Kendall."

Kendall closed his eyes and concentrated on James' voice instead of the rolling nausea in his stomach until he couldn't anymore.

James seemed to automatically know when Kendall was about to throw up, because the blonde found himself hunched over the toilet bowl just in time. Warm hands massaged his back, trying to offer some comfort out of the grueling ordeal.

"Are you finished?" James asked when the heaves stopped. Kendall nodded, and the brunette wiped his tears away with his thumb.

"It hurts so bad James," Kendall admitted, his voice sounding as tiny as a child's.

"Here, drink some of this," James said, offering Kendall a little cup of water from the bathroom sink. "It will make you feel better."

Kendall took the drink gratefully and swallowed a few sips, but it didn't make him feel better. Once again, his stomach rolled and he threw up for the second time with such violence that it left Kendall choking and breathless.

"Ssh, calm down," James cooed, gathering the heaving boy in his arms. Kendall settled against him and struggled to control his breathing.

"I thought you weren't going to take care of me anymore," Kendall said weakly. James couldn't believe Kendall would actually take that to heart.

"I lied," James said simply. "Let's go lie down on the couch, I bet Carlos and Logan are worried about you."

Kendall nodded and let James hoist him to his feet. James snaked an arm around Kendall's waist and helped him walk back to the couch, where he collapsed onto the soft, orange fabric and hugged his knees to his chest. Carlos and Logan watched the duo with a look of "what happened?" on their pale faces.

"Is he ok?" Carlos squeaked.

"He should be fine, I think he got it all out of his system," James said, trying to be positive, but as soon as he said that, Kendall paled even more so if that was possible.

"James, I don't feel good," he whined pitifully. James knew what was about to happen and rushed to the kitchen to grab a bucket from beneath the sink, then ran back to Kendall, shoved it beneath his nose, and rubbed his back while they waited for it to happen.

Kendall threw up twice in a row again. It was hard to watch his normally strong, solid body become so fragile. He seemed to be held together by a tiny string, and if you pulled it, he would fall apart all together.

Logan said it was important to keep Kendall hydrated on Gatorade or at least water, but he couldn't hold down any of it. As soon as James would wash out the bucket, it would need to be washed out again. Soon, Kendall was only vomiting water and stomach acid and suffering dry heaves in between. He was a pale white and his lips were chapped and gray. He didn't have one ounce of color left in him, despite the fever that heated his face up.

"James, give him some more of his anti-vomiting medicine," Logan said. "He needs to stop throwing up. I'm really worried now. He can get dehydrated before long."

James was anxious for somebody to finally tell him what to do, how to help his friend. He carefully removed Kendall's head from his lap. "I'll bring right back, Kendall. I'm going to give you some medicine, ok?"

Kendall moaned in agreement, and James went to Kendall's room to find the medicine. But when he picked up the pill bottle, he saw it was empty. Kendall had already taken the supply of pills the doctor had sent him home with.

"Logan, he's all out," James said, shoving the pill bottle in his face, upset.

Logan flinched and took the pill bottle. He looked disturbed that all of the pills were gone. Kendall needed medicine fast, but there was nothing they could do.

"Just hold on a little while longer," Logan said, stroking Kendall's hair. "It will be over soon."

"But what if he dehydrates? He can't just hold on," James said.

"There's nothing we can do," Logan said regretfully.

"No, he needs this medicine. I can't watch him go through this," James said, taking the pill bottle back from Logan. He read the label carefully. "It says he's allowed one refill, Logan."

"Yeah, but-"

"I'll be back in 15 minutes," James announced.

"Wait, what?" Logan asked, paling. It was storming outside and James was sick, going out in that weather would be a stupid move.

"I'm going to the pharmacy, I'll be right back. Ok Kendall? I'm going to get some more medicine to make your stomachache go away," James said, patting Kendall's sweaty cheek. The sick boy was too ill to answer. He licked his dry lips and whimpered, trying to nod his with his stiff neck.

"But James, you're sick and it's storming really bad out there," Logan warned. "You can't go, please."

"I have to help Kendall," James said, torn. He didn't want to deliberately disobey Logan, but he feared that Kendall would end up in the hospital if he didn't give him his medicine.

"Can I go with?" Carlos begged, nervous to let James go out so late at night by himself. What if he needed help?

"No, buddy I'm sorry you can't," James said. "Stay with Logie and help him, ok?"

"James," Logan said again, shaking his head. He had a bad feeling about this. It wasn't the smartest idea.

Just then, Kendall gagged again and the sounds of bile pouring against plastic filled the room, making them cringe. Kendall shuddered and cried out before another set of gags wracked his body and he threw up again. It was almost like it was unstoppable.

"James, help," Kendall said breathlessly. His voice sounded hoarse from all of the throwing up he was doing. "It hurts…"

James looked Logan in the eyes, and the smaller boy could see how desperate and scared James was.

"Be careful," Logan said.

James put on his shoes and his jacket and hurried out the door, leaving Kendall, Logan and Carlos alone in the apartment.

**A/N Who thinks James' decision to get the medicine will bite him in the butt? But at the same time, Kendall really, really needs this medicine. **

**Please review it makes me vomit rainbows. Omg what is wrong with me sorry for that visual.**


	22. The Slammer

**A/N I sorta can't believe that this is chapter 22! Like, what is time? I believe that this is one of my longest stories yet. I don't know why this little silly thing is so special to me! Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews, if I didn't reply it's because I have been ridiculously busy but I read them all and they mean soooo much to me! **

James shivered, his ill body revolting against the wet and chilly air. The cold wind felt sharp against his chest, and taking in a deep breath of air actually hurt. The heavy rain that was being whipped around by the strong gale stung like knives on his face and exposed skin. The brunette was soaked to the bone by the time he got to their cherry red car, even though he sprinted across the entire parking lot. He huddled in the car thankful for protection from the cruel and relentless weather, but he didn't allow even a moment's resting time. He started the car and no sooner then it growled to life, he threw it in reverse, backed up, and peeled out of the wet parking lot so fast his tires lost traction for a moment, filling the night air with an awful screech.

Never before had James seen Kendall so sick and helpless before. It physically hurt to watch him have no choice but to be victim to his own stomach. James wasn't stupid, he knew that somebody so sick could be in trouble. James was surprised Kendall wasn't hospital bound already, the way he was vomiting so much with such a high fever. He hoped that he hadn't waited too long to act on his friends illness and get him help.

James arrived at the small 24/7 pharmacy and barely parked the car before he ran through the pouring rain and into the store. The bell chimed loudly and a man in a white coat looked up to find a very wet, very anxious looking James heading towards him, his long brown strands of hair now black and clinging to his forehead and neck.

"My friend is really sick and can't stop throwing up. He had a prescription for whatever this stuff is and he's all out." James set the orange pill bottle on the counter and the pharmacist studied it.

"Ok, do you have your ID and the documents from Kendall's doctor stating that he was prescribed this medication?"

James blinked, rain rolling off his forehead and onto his cheeks. "Um, no I don't… Do I need it?"

"Well yes, I can't just give a bottle of pills to some unknown child. I'm sorry but you need to provide me proof that you are of age and allowed to get a refill."

James' heart fluttered nervously. "But I am 18, I swear. Please let me have the medicine, I'm not some drug addict. My friend is really sick," James pleaded. He looked pitiful, with his pale skin and soaked clothes. Tiny left over raindrops fell off his long eyelashes and splashed against his cheeks, and he quickly wiped them away because he was sure a couple of tears were mixed with them. But the pharmacist didn't take any pity on the young, desperate boy.

"I'm sorry. Go get your ID or your mommy and I will be able to fill your prescription for you."

If he hadn't been crying before, he was definitely crying now. James couldn't help it. He was afraid and didn't feel well at all. His whole body hurt, his shivering was violent and endless, and he was worried to death for Kendall.

"But it's the middle of the night and storming like crazy out there," James said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I obviously have a good reason to be here. My friend is really sick and I don't know what to do. My mom and my friend's moms all live in Minnesota."

"I'm afraid I will lose my license if I give a child medication without any permission-"

"It says on the bottle it's good for one refill!"

"-But just anybody can get a hold of this bottle, it's a prescription for a reason and I will not risk my job for you. If you don't leave my store now I'll be forced to call the cops."

James squeaked in horror. He didn't want to get arrested as a potential drug addict or whatever the mean pharmacist was accusing him of being, but he didn't know what to do to help Kendall, either. He groaned with annoyance, shot the man a dirty look, and scanned the shelves for some PeptoBismol.

"Fine," James said angrily. "Can I buy this pink stuff, at least?" The brunette slammed the medicine on the counter, the sound resonating against the stark white walls and making the pharmacist jump. The man didn't say a word and just rang him up. James paid for the medicine and rushed out of the store, eager to get home and explain to Logan what had happened. Hopefully the pink liquid would keep Kendall's tummy under control until he and Logan could get the whole prescription thing straightened out.

With another squeal of the tires, this time on purpose just to annoy the stupid pharmacist, James set off towards the apartment. He was angry and concerned. He had no idea how sick Kendall had become during his absence. He could have been taking care of Kendall when instead he had to argue with that white coated, know-it-all man.

While anxious thoughts raced through his mind, James didn't even realize his tight grip on the steering wheel and the way his foot became heavy on the gas pedal. He was so fixated on getting back home to his terribly sick friends that he forgot all about the speed limit. The cheery red vehicle sped right past a cop car, which was hidden in the downpour of rain. The black and white car, just waiting for somebody to mess up and speed right by, threw on his flashing lights and siren and followed closely behind James, who barely noticed the red and blue lights swirling in his rearview mirror.

"Oh shit," James accidently let slip. He pressed on his brakes and stopped in the middle of the street, having no idea what he was supposed to do since he never experienced being pulled over by police before. Suddenly, a booming voice on a speaker phone said, "Sir, I need you to pull over to the right shoulder of the road."

James gulped and did what he was told, and the cop pulled in behind him. He watched with a churning stomach as a tall figure got out of the black and white car. He could only see the shadow of the man in the darkness growing bigger and bigger until he arrived at the window. Tears were streaming down James' face now. He wanted so badly to be safe and warm at home with his buddies. He jumped and yelped with fear when the cop tapped on his window, and he reluctantly rolled down the only thing protecting him from the large man that resembled a huge grizzly bear approaching his prey.

"Good evening sir how are you doing tonight?" The cop asked smoothly.

"Not so good sir," James said in a tiny voice. The cop looked slightly put off by the crying boy behind the wheel.

"Where are you headed to? You know you shouldn't be driving in an emotional state like this."

"I'm trying to get home to my big brother. He's really sick," James explained, hoping that his luck would be in his favor and the police officer would just let him go home. He didn't even care if he got a ticket, he could afford it. He just wanted to be home now.

"Well we'll get you home after you show me some license and registration," the police officer said. "I need some proof of insurance, too."

James' heart seemed to stop for a moment and his mouth went dry. He knew the car was insured and registered thanks to Gustavo, but he realized with horror that he didn't have a driver's license.

James did his best to try to calm down and slow his tears so he could explain to the cop his situation. He handed him the legal papers he needed to see and the cop looked at them briefly. James' was shaking now and his lip was quivering. He felt like he could burst into another round of tears at any moment.

"Can I see your license sir?" The officer asked. James shut his eyes and sighed.

"I d-don't have one, sir," James said. His voice leaked with desperation. "Please let me explain, me and my 3 best friends live together and they're all really, really sick. I just needed to go to the pharmacy and pick up some medicine. Please, you can ticket me and I'll pay however much money you want me to just let me go home to my friends."

"You're going to have to come with me, sir," the police officer said. "I understand if your friends are sick but driving without a license is illegal. I'm going to have to put you under arrest and keep you at the station until somebody can come bail you out."

"U-under _arrest?"_ James asked. "Like, handcuffs and jail cell and everything?"

"I'm afraid so, son. Let's go," The cop said. James knew he had no choice but to do what the cop said and obeyed. He cringed when he felt his arms tugged behind his back and cold metal tighten around his wrists. He never knew how claustrophobic and uncomfortable being in real handcuffs would be. His heart was racing when the cop helped him into the backseat and he was driven away to the police station, abandoning his car and his friends.

Everything was a blur of motion to James at the police station. Everyone there looked like a thug or homeless person and not like a poor, innocent drenched puppy like he did. He never wanted to be anywhere less in his life. He could hear somebody yelling and fighting with a cop and a prostitute was looking him up and down as he walked through the station. He felt violated and scared and wrong. He didn't deserve to be in jail, just because he didn't have his license. That seemed a little extreme and unnecessary. At least the cop was nice to him, even though he did drag him to jail. For some reason, James had this irrational thought that once he was in the police station all the officers would beat on him and interrogate him, but mostly they just ignored him.

"Wait here and you'll have one phone call available when it's your turn," the cop explained, leading him to a jail cell. James eyed it warily. There were already 2 homeless looking people in there, but they looked either really, really tired or stoned out of their minds and didn't even acknowledge his presence, even when he tried to say hi.

"Ho-how long will it be?" James asked, stepping into the cell nervously. He winced when the cop pulled the bars shut with a loud metallic clang.

"About an hour," the cop said. "Don't worry, you'll have your mom here in no time and she'll be driving you home and paying for everything just like all the other kids that come in here trying to pull stunts like you did." With that, the cop left James alone with the homeless people.

James made sure to stay as far away from the 2 dozing off bodies as he could, because they smelt bad plus were probably dangerous or weird or something. Honestly, James didn't know what kind of people were in there. He always thought only bad people went to jail, not kids who drove without a license just to help a friend. He was well aware that what he did was illegal, but at the same time, he didn't feel it was something that deserved a jail cell.

With a sigh, James sat down on the hard, dirty concrete floor of the cell, his back pressed up against the bars. His head was swimming and it was very cold in there. Tears pooled in his eyes. He didn't feel well at all, now that his adrenaline was wearing off and he was left scared and vulnerable. He wondered how his buddies were fairing at home. Was Kendall still sick or maybe, hopefully, he improved? James knew that they were probably scared out of their wits, since he had been gone for so long now. The police had taken away his cell phone and lucky comb and said he could have them back once he was bailed out, whatever that meant. He felt incredibly empty without those two prized possessions He wished that his mom could take him home, just like the cop said, but his mom was in Minnesota, nowhere near LA.

Suddenly, James' body was overcome by a coughing fit. It was loud and violent. His chest constricted painfully as his lungs begged for air. He curled into a tiny ball and ignored the alarmed looks by random officers towards his direction. He didn't want their pity now, after everything he had been through that night. Truthfully, he just wanted to be left alone. But apparently, nobody in the place cared enough about him to make sure he was ok, even though at one point his coughing had become so violent that he could hardly breathe.

"L-Logan," James whispered, wishing his friends were there. The brunette laid down on the freezing floor and wrapped his arms around his middle, feeling sick and lonely. He closed his eyes and prayed he could see his friends soon.

**A/N Oh no now James is in jail and Kendall doesn't have his medicine! That almost sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? Now all I need is a love triangle. Ha. I just love the idea of James, our special little pretty boy, in jail. I'm terrible lol. **

**Reviewing is enforced and doing so will result in this author: Jumping up and down on furniture, crying tears of joy, extreme hyperness, eagerness to work on the next chapter, and the baking of cookies for whoever does review. Not reviewing will result in crying tears of despair, lethargy, sadness, and the confiscating of cookies from those who did not review. Yeah. No chocolate chip for you. Just kidding the fact that you read my story makes me bubbly! Yay.**


	23. One phone call

**A/N Sorry I haven't updated in so long, my laptop was broken! But I'm back now! **

**Me: YAYYYYY! **

**You guys: *crickets…* Haha. Hey thanks for the reviews guys! Keep it up! Last chapter got like, 15 or something. I LOVE that! Thanks so so so so much. **

**Who else like cheesesticks? Omg these things are amazing. Like the mozzarella kind? Yum. Ok I will shut up about my cheese and get on with jailed James. And I never actually have been to jail (surprising right?) so not entirely sure what all goes down there. Haha.**

James was positive that he was forced to wait over an hour until he was able to call for his savior. The minutes seemed to slowly tick by. He was a shivering lump in the furthest corner of the cell, trying to drown out the disturbing noises around him of drunken homeless people and swearing prostitutes. Uncomfortable couldn't begin to describe how he felt in that cold cell. Besides the fact that he was feeling frighteningly sick, and wanted nothing more than to be at home in bed snuggled up with his friends, his creepy cellmates wouldn't stop staring at him. James was scared of them because they looked like druggies and had lots of tattoos and were much bigger than him. James couldn't figure out why he, a teenager, would be forced into this horrible little place for something as minor as what he did when he was surrounded by real criminals.

James yelped weakly when he felt a boot nudge him in the ribs. He opened his eyes to see one of his cellmates staring down at him. James whimpered and tried to press himself into the dirty wall, wishing he could just disappear.

"What's wrong with you, kid?" The scary looking man asked. His gruff voice sounded distant because James' head was so congested.

"I want to go home," the brunette said meekly. He let out a shiver and wiped his brow, which was damp with sweat. The man continued to stare at him, unsure what to do with the obviously sick teenager.

"Hey kid, you gonna puke?" Another voice from inside the cell asked. James curled in on himself and groaned. Maybe if he ignored them, they would leave him alone, which was what he really, really wanted at the moment.

""Hey copper, I think the little guy is about to hurl or something!" The same voice called out to a nearby cop. James groaned again, this time out of nausea rather than annoyance. The fact that they were talking about throwing up only made his stomachache worse.

"Don't let him throw up in here!" The large guy standing over James yelled.

"Please go away," James pleaded. He probably sounded like a 6 year old but he didn't care. He just wanted out of here.

"Hey kid, let's go. Make your phone call," the cop said, staring at James uneasily. He was probably not too thrilled about the idea of cleaning up vomit.

James barely nodded and made to get up, but he stumbled dizzily and fell back onto the cold, hard ground. He skinned his palms on the filthy gray floor in an attempt to catch himself.

"Maybe we should take him to a hospital?" A voice said when James didn't try to get back up again. The brunette hugged his knees to his chest and shivered weakly.

"Somebody call for an ambulance, the kid looks like death," another voice said. James shook his head and mumbled something. He felt a hand on his back trying to comfort him, probably a cop, he thought. But it didn't make him feel better. It was _weird_. He didn't want to be touched by these people.

"What was that, kid?" The cop asked, kneeling next to him. James shied away from him a bit.

"No, no ambulance," he said. It was hard to project his voice above anything other than a tiny whisper because he felt so weak and his throat hurt so much. "My friend is sick. I need to get home to him. Please just let me call someone so I can get home and take care of him."

"Ok, whatever kid," the cop said. The older man pulled him to his feet and James stayed still for a moment, giving his head a chance to stop spinning. He wondered if he had a fever, because his body hurt and felt so hot yet he couldn't stop shivering and it was hard to think clearly. He blindly followed the cop to a small room, where the man sat him in a chair and handed him the phone.

"You have 5 minutes," the cop said before he left. With shaky fingers, James began to dial the number of the only person he knew who could help him in a situation like this. He almost burst into tears when he realized he couldn't remember the number though. He swallowed and wiped away the forming tears, trying to think through the feverish cloud in his mind. Finally, he remembered the digits and quickly pounded the numbers into the phone. He tapped his foot nervously as the phone rang. He prayed that there would be an answer. After the first four annoying rings, his heart began to drop. A thought passed through his mind that he would be stuck in this jail cell forever, rotting away while Kendall, Carlos and Logan were sick and scared at home.

James sniffled at the thought and began to cry. He silently begged for someone to pick up the phone. His prayers were answered when the ringing stopped and a young, tired, girly voice came on the line.

"Hello?"

"Oh my God, Camille," James said with relief. He had never been so happy to hear the dramatic actress' voice before. "It's James. I'm sorry about calling so late, but I need your help."

"James? Are you ok?" Camille asked, alarmed. "You don't sound so good."

"I'm not doing so good," James said tearfully. "I got caught driving without a license and they won't let me drive home."

"What? Who won't let you drive home?" Camille asked, confused.

"The police. They took me to jail and I guess I have to pay a bunch of fines or something and I think I'm really sick, Camille. I don't feel so good."

"Oh my God, ok hold on James. I'll be right there. It'll be ok baby. What police station?" Camille asked worriedly. Her friend sounded awful and obviously very scared. She was already putting on her shoes and trying to find her car keys.

"No, wait," James said. "I need you to check on the guys first, they're back at the apartment. They're sick too, that's why I called you-" James' words were suddenly cut off by a coughing fit. His chest constricted painfully and he gasped for breath in between hacks.

"James, are you ok?" Camille asked.

"I'm fine, Camille," James said when he was able to talk. "Just please check on them, I have this really bad feeling that something is wrong with Kendall. He was really bad when I left a couple hours ago to get him medicine. And Logan and Carlos don't feel good, either. They all have fevers and I'm freaking out-"

"Ssh, ssh James' I'm sure they're ok," Camille said softly. "Let me come get you, I can't just let you sit in jail all night, especially with a cough that sounds that bad."

"Please Camille, I don't care how long I have to stay here," James begged. "I just need to know Kendall's ok. Go to the apartment and take care of them before you get me, please."

Camille sighed. She was touched by how compassionate and selfless James could be for his buddies, but she was concerned for him. Jail was not a desirable place to be and he had to be freaked out of his mind and uncomfortable.

"Ok, I'll make sure the guys are alright. But I'll be there as soon as I can. Just hold on James. I won't let you stay there longer than you have to."

"Ok, thanks Camille. I have to go now, they won't let me stay on the phone any longer," James said when he saw the cop approach the window.

"Take care, James. I promise I'll be right there," Camille said. James murmured an agreement and reluctantly hung up the phone. He wished he could stay on the line longer with the girl he considered one of his best friends. The only time he felt safe and comforted that night was for the few short minutes he could hear her voice.

After the cop retrieved James, the sick brunette curled up in the same spot in the cell that he had earlier in the furthest corner. His legs all but gave out on him and he slid down the wall and coiled up into the tiniest ball he could form, desperate for warmth. His clothes were still slightly damp from the torrential rain he had been caught on that night. His cellmates stared at him warily again, giving him goosebumps. James ignored their stares and tucked his chin to his chest, closing his eyes shut tight. He wanted to be in his bed so badly, in the dark and quiet so he could finally sleep, something he hadn't done much of over the past few days.

More coughs wracked James' fragile body. It was becoming hard to breathe and his chest hurt. To say he wanted Logan was an understatement. James folded his shaking hands together and silently prayed that Kendall was ok and that salvation from this wretched place was arriving soon.

**A/N Thanks for reading! You all get little love heart shaped balloons :D I better hit the hay, I get to dance at UCO tomorrow morning! So exciting! I have been waiting for this day for 2 months! **

**Review? :D xo**


	24. 4th one down!

**A/N So close to finishing this story! Just a couple more chapters left… Next one might be the last! Thanks for all of the reviews and for reading! My goal is to get to 300 reviews by the time this story ends… A girl can dream! Haha.**

"James… James are you ok? Are you with me?"

James moaned. He could hear the voice of a familiar girl, but it was so far away and he couldn't quite hear what she was saying. He tried to hold onto her voice, but he could feel himself slipping away into the darkness again. A little piece of him deep inside was scared. He didn't know where he was or what was happening, or why it was so dark and cold.

"Come on baby you need to wake up now. It's ok Jamie." The voice continued to coo sweet words to James. It brought him a little comfort. He wanted to see where the voice was coming from. Slowly, the darkness started to ebb away. A bright, fluorescent white light burned his sensitive eyes and he realized just how horrible he felt. James was certain that getting hit by a truck had to feel better than this.

"That's it Jamie, wake up," the voice said, and now James could tell it was Camille who was talking to him. He opened his eyes all the way, desperate to find her, ignoring the pain the light brought to his eyes.

"Camille?" He whimpered out. When he spotted her leaning above him, he sat up way too quickly and collapsed anxiously into her awaiting arms. The movement left him dizzy, nauseous, and made his back ache terribly, but he was happy to be in her arms.

"Hey Jamie," Camille said, running her fingers through his sweaty hair to remove it from his face so she could see him better. He groaned miserably and leaned into her warm, soothing touch. "Oh, baby you look so sick," she whispered with concern. He was pale white with red cheeks and sweat seemed to pour off of him in buckets. His eyes were dull and scared and filled with fever. "You wouldn't wake up and it scared me."

"I fell asleep?" James asked, wincing at his burning throat. He looked around himself to find that he was still in that horrid jail cell. His cell mates were watching the duo with their big, creepy eyes. He shivered and turned away from them. How he fell asleep in this place was beyond his understandings. He must have passed out or something because he could not remember falling asleep. The last thing he remembered, actually, was being taken in a daze to a room. His memory was foggy from there.

"Kid, do you need me to call an ambulance?" A cop asked them.

James shook his head as he tried to remember the last few minutes before he passed out. All he could remember was feeling awful though, but he was sure Camille must have been the one he called to bail him out.

"I don't know, I think he might," Camille said, placing her palm on his burning forehead. She had the sick boy cradled in the crook of her arm, lying heavily against her chest. "He's so hot and I think he's having trouble breathing."

"No, m'okay," James mumbled with a cough. He cringed. The cough hurt his chest. He cuddled against Camille and wrapped a shaking arm around her waist. She rubbed his back.

"I don't think you are, James," Camille said. She felt so bad for her friend right now. He was so miserable. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to get here…"

Camille's last sentence sparked James' memory. He suddenly remembered why it might have taken Camille so long to save him.

"Kendall?" He asked groggily. James could feel himself growing sleepy again, and he was feeling dizzy from lack of oxygen. It was hard to breathe.

"He's really sick, James," Camille explained. She didn't want to worry him when he was in such a sick state himself but she knew she had to tell him. "It's a good thing you told me to check on him, buddy. He passed out from dehydration a couple minutes after I got there and Logan was spiking a fever. Carlos seemed to be alright health wise, but he was scared. I took them all to the hospital."

James stared up at Camille, trying to register her words in his feverish mind. Tears pricked at his eyes. "No," he said in a tiny voice. That was what he was most afraid of. He knew Kendall's condition was serious. Because of him, his best friend was in the hospital. "I gotta see him…"

"Whoa, where are you going?" Camille asked when James pushed himself up. Camille tried to hold him down, but even when frail and ill he still overpowered the little girl. "James, you're too sick you need to lie down. You look like you're about to pass out!" Camille scolded, jumping to her feet.

"He needs me," James said. His concern for Kendall gave him a small rush of adrenaline which provided him the strength he needed to focus and walk, but it was a chore for him. He actually had to concentrate to stay conscious.

"Ok, come on," Camille said, putting her arm around James' shoulders. At least he would finally get to a hospital where the doctors could finally make him feel better. She couldn't imagine how sick he was, and his raging fever indicated that something wrong was going on inside of him.

The walk to Camille's car was somewhat of a fight, consisting of her trying to slow him down while he insisted on all but running to the vehicle. But James was stubborn and even though each step was painful for him, the worry he felt for Kendall was stronger.

Camille helped James into the car and belted him in before driving towards the hospital. She was angry at herself for leaving James in jail for so long. It was already 4 AM. But Kendall was so weak and dehydrated and burning up with fever that she had been afraid that if she didn't get him to the hospital, he might not have made it through the night. The doctors told her she was extremely lucky to get him to the hospital when she did or permanent damage may have been done. Logan had a fever too, only not quite as high as Kendall's. And little Carlos had been a sobbing mess. It took her nearly two hours before she finally got to poor James. So even though she was beating herself up for letting James suffer for so long, she knew there wasn't any other option.

"Camille, I don't feel good," James said. Camille broke form her thoughts and glanced at the passenger seat. James was hunched over in his seat, lying against the door. She could hear him panting for oxygen, and it was the most disturbing sound she ever heard. It was a weak, rattled sound that came from deep inside of him.

Camille pressed on the gas a little harder. "It's ok Jamie we're almost there."

James moaned loudly and wrapped his arm around his stomach, squeezing his middle. His breathing became even more harsh and shallow. Camille felt a nervous ball of energy grow in her tummy now. She just wanted to get to the hospital.

James fidgeted for a minute, trying to get comfy in his seat. He rubbed his stomach and bit back the bile that threatened to rise to his throat.

"Camille… Pull over," he said, and something in his voice made Camille do as he told her. She pulled over to the shoulder on the side of the road. Before she fully even braked, he swung his door open and stumbled out of the car. He put his hands on his knees and vomited violently onto the concrete. Camille winced and looked away. She hoped he would only have to go through the ordeal once, but after he threw up more gagging came. That was when she got out of the car and ran around to James. She lowered him to his knees and wrapped an arm around him, burying her face in the hair at the nape of his neck while he shuddered with heaves and sobs.

The newfound strength James had gained at the news of Kendall was gone now. He collapsed against Camille, exhausted. He buried his face in her chest and gasped for air. She allowed him a moment to settle down and cuddle before lifting him up to his feet, which was an extremely hard task for such a tiny girl, and helped him back into the car.

"I'll get you help in just a minute," Camille promised. "Hold on, I know you make it. Just think of something else." The frazzled girl ran to the driver's side and rushed to the hospital. James was out of it the entire drive, but was hopeful when they pulled into the emergency room parking lot. He felt that same anxiety and adrenaline to see his brothers as he did in jail and used Camille as a crutch on the way into the double doors. The bright lights hurt his head and the hospital smell made him want to throw up again.

"Where's Kendall?" James asked immediately.

"I want to get you checked out first," Camille said. She avoided his puppy dog eyes because she knew if she looked at him, she would give in and let him see Kendall.

"I have to see my brothers Camille please," James said, leaning against a wall to catch his breath. Tears leaked out of his eyes and ran down his pale gray face. He took her wrist in his cold, shaking fingers. His grip was weak but pleading. "I promise I'll lie down after I see them."

Camille sighed. He was like a Medusa, you couldn't help but to look at him and give into what he wanted. "Follow me," she said regretfully. He trailed behind her even though he legs would barely move anymore his, chest heaving and back aching. That drowning feeling he had the other day was back only ten times worse this time. When James thought he could walk any longer, they finally made it to a quiet little white room. Camille took his hand and led him inside. James' heart skipped a beat when he saw a pale Logan in one bed, and Kendall in the other. Carlos was fast asleep and gripping Kendall's hand, half asleep on the chair and half asleep on the bed.

Logan's bed was closest to James, so the brunette stumbled to him first. He ran his hand along the younger boy's warm forehead, pleased to find that the hospital had done a good job on lowering his fever. He leaned over and kissed Logan's forehead before turning to Kendall's bed. First, he picked Carlos up and cradled him in his arms, stunning Camille. She had no idea how he possessed the strength to do that when he could hardly walk, but James was just like that. He calmly walked back over to Logan's bed and laid the Latino next to Logan's sleeping body. Carlos made a tiny, cute sound and rolled onto his side, his arm draping over Logan's abdomen. James smiled at this and went back over to Kendall.

The blonde was attached to I.V's and machine. He was actually attached to an E.K.G, which scared James out of his mind. Poor Kendall looked really, really bad.

"Camille, why's he so sick?" James whimpered, running his hand through Kendall's golden locks.

"He'll get better," Camille assured him, walking over to the brunette and putting a hand on his back. "He's ok now."

"But he almost wasn't ok, and it's all my fault," James said with a sob. Camille's heart broke and she wrapped him in a tight hug. James put his head on her shoulder. "I don't feel so good, Cam."

"What's wrong Jamie?" Camille asked. James didn't answer though. He shivered and panted and sobbed. She watched in horror as his eyes seemed to roll back into his eyes in slow motion. His limbs finally lost that tiny bit of strength he had been holding onto and he collapsed against Camille, nearly knocking her to the ground with him.

"Help!" Camille yelled out, trying to gently lower James' heavily muscular body to the ground. She touched his face and recoiled her hand in shock. He was burning up. James moaned, and she shook his shoulders.

"James, stay awake," Camille pleaded, but the fever took James back into the darkness.

**A/N I can't believe how close I am too finishing this story! It's kind of sad. I hope you liked it! Please review it makes me feel like jello!**

**I'm sad because I got to dance at UCO yesterday but I totally sprained my ankle! It hurts to even move my toes. Every time I think I can start wearing pointe shoes again, I injure myself. Pretty sure God just doesn't want me to wear pointe shoes. **


	25. Good Enough

**A/N So this is it guys! The last one. After 8 months, 25 chapters, 65 favorites, 88 alerts, and 271+ reviews, this story has come to an end. I really don't want to end it because this is my mindless, I feel like making this person sick today story but I feel like it just needs to end now. So I can, you know, start up some more projects I have been working on for you guys. So alas, (why am I talking like an old man?) the 25****th**** and final chapter of We Can Take the Tears Away.**

**Chapter 25: Good Enough.**

Panicked voices started echoing in Carlos' otherwise happy dreams, threatening to pull him away from his blissful slumber. He tried to ignore the voices, but when a familiar sounding voice practically screeched "James!" He finally woke up. At first, Carlos was confused by his surroundings. He was in a plain white bed in a small room, hugging Logan, who continued to sleep through the panic, oblivious to everything around him because of his fever.

Carlos gripped Logan tighter and peered over the edge of his bed to find James passed out cold on the tile floor with three doctors and Camille hovering over his motionless, pale body. He watched as the doctors carefully placed James on a stretcher and wheeled him away quickly.

"James!" Carlos cried, reaching out towards the stretcher, but the doctors were already halfway out the door. "Wh-where are you taking him?"

"Ssh, ssh, it's ok," a soft voice said soothingly. A hand rubbed up and down Carlos' back, and he turned to see Camille trying to comfort him.

"What happened, Camille?" Carlos asked. All he remembered was falling asleep beside Kendall, who had been extremely sick. He had never been aware that James was sick, too. James had been fine… Hadn't he?

"James is sick buddy," Camille explained. "Judging by his condition, he's probably been sick for a while."

"But… Why didn't he tell us?" Carlos asked innocently, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Camille frowned and ran her hand through his short, dark fluffs of hair before kissing his forehead gently.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure because I wasn't there, but to me, James always struck me as the kind of person who would do anything for his friends. He was probably hiding it from you guys so he could take care of you, but he ended up just exhausting himself and letting himself get sicker and sicker," Camille explained.

"So it's our faults than?" Carlos asked. Camille shook her head quickly, her curls bouncing.

"No, no, Carlos. It's not your fault at all. You guys were sick. James is just hard headed," Camille said.

Carlos sighed and ran a hand over his face. A crease of worry formed on his forehead. "He did seem really stressed and worn out lately. We were just too sick to help him like we should have. And then he started acting really weird and upset about something all the time… Camille, we completely ignored our best friend. He probably thinks we hate him!"

"No, don't even think like that," Camille said sternly. Carlos curled his knees to his chest and buried his face in his knees. Camille watched him curl up in a ball, obviously distressed and in need of comfort. The poor boy was still fighting off the flu and porbably scared to death for his friends.

"Carlos, it's ok buddy. Come here," Camille cooed. The young brunette crawled up onto the bed in between Carlos and Logan and opened her arms wide.

"What are you doing?" Carlos asked with a sniffle, glancing up from his pout to give her a quizzical look. But when he saw her arms open for a hug, he immediately leaned into them and rested his head on her chest, letting a few tears escape. "I don't feel good and I'm worried about James, Cam."

"I know, Carlos. Go back to sleep, you're tired and it's not even morning yet. I'll wake you up soon. James will be just fine."

Carlos trusted her word and allowed himself to close his eyes. Camille cuddled both sick boys in her arms, one fast asleep and one crying himself to sleep, waiting nervously for news on James' condition.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days had gone by since the chaotic events that landed both Kendall and James in the hospital. While Carlos and Logan were back to full health besides the occasional cough or sniffle, the two eldest boys were still recovering in their hospital beds.

Kendall was the least worst off and was ready to be released. His fever was nearly gone and he was completely hydrated again, thanks to a saline drip. Carlos, Logan and Camille were all so happy to see him back to his cheerful and stubborn self again minus the I.V's and stuff the doctors had hooked him up to. The main reason they knew Kendall was ok again, though, was by the way he stayed close to James' bedside at all times, just waiting for him to wake up so he could yell at him. As soon as the blonde had found out that James had been hiding a serious illness and gotten himself in jail, he had flipped out and watched over sleeping James in an overly protective manners, his arms folded across his chest and his thick eyebrows furrowed into a scowl. He had every intention of giving James lectures as well as hugs when he finally woke up.

It turned out that the illness James had been hiding was double lung pneumonia. The gang had been shocked when the doctor told them this. They couldn't believe that they had let something so serious slip through their fingers. They didn't know if it was denial or blindness, but none of them would have ever guessed that pneumonia had been making James so fussy and sick. Kendall, Carlos, and Logan practically had panic attacks when they found out, while Camille slapped them each upside the head for not asking for help before the situation became so out of control.

"When is he going to wake up guys?"

Carlos' whiny voice interrupted the silence in the tiny white room. He was sprawled out on the linoleum floor, mindlessly reading a comic book that Camille had brought him from home.

"When he's ready to wake up," Logan said for the hundredth time. Carlos asked this question pretty much every hour. The small brunette scratched at a fading rash on his tummy and went back to reading his novel. While he wished James would wake up, he also knew he didn't have to be too worried. James' body was simply exhausted and needed to catch up on much needed sleep, a sleep that was lasting nearly 48 hours. The doctors were keeping a good eye on him and doing everything Logan would do, and the pretty boy was showing signs of recovering. He was just really, really tired.

"I'm going to beat him if he doesn't wake up soon," Kendall growled. He stared at James without a trace of menace on his face. Logan and Carlos knew his threats were empty, and that when James finally did wake up, he would probably turn into a soft mother hen instead of Mister Tough Guy, like he always did whenever the boys did something reckless and stupid.

"Well, looks like James won't have endure your fists Kendall," Camille teased. The boys looked at the curly brunette questioningly. She pointed to James' bed, where the sick boy was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings.

"James!" Carlos cried, hopping to his feet and rushing to his bedside. "Are you ok?"

"Ssh, he's fine," Logan said, putting his hands on Carlos' shoulders to calm him down even though he was as equally eager to see James' eyes open. Kendall leaned so far over in his chair that he looked like he was about to fall out at any moment, anxiously waiting for James to respond. Camille stroked James' hair soothingly while he woke up from his very long nap.

"Hey Jamie," Camille cooed as long black lashes fluttered open to reveal hazy, feverish light brown eyes. James moaned and coughed suddenly. The small, worried crowd gathered around him and cringed in sympathy.

"How are you feeling buddy?" Logan asked, giving James' hand a squeeze. James winced while he swallowed and simply said, in a very hoarse voice, "Ow."

James' friends gave small chuckles and several hands reached out to comfort him.

"Yeah, you're pretty sick buddy," Logan said.

James rubbed his grainy feeling eyes, trying to focus on the room. "A-am I in jail?"

"No buddy you're at the hospital, you've been out for days," Carlos said. The Latino wondered how James could still even think he was in jail. He must have really been out of it.

"Hospital?" James asked. His voice was barely above a whisper, but his eyes shone with panic. "Where's Kendall? Is he-"

"Ssh ssh, I'm right here," Kendall said, realizing he wasn't in James' view. He moved from where he was slightly in back of Camille and sat on James' bed. The brunette visibly relaxed at the sight of his best friend. Even though it pained him to do so, James sat up and practically fell in Kendall's arm. The blonde held the back of his head with one hand, tangling his long fingers in James' long brown locks, while his other hand rubbed circles on his back.

"Kendall…"

"I'm ok, I'm all better I promise. I'm not sick anymore," Kendall said. "It's time to worry about you now. I'm ok."

"Thank God," James whispered. He was too ashamed to admit at the moment that he truly had thought Kendall might have died.

"Are you feeling alright?" Camille asked. "Do you need a doctor?"

James pulled away from Kendall and settled back onto his pillows. "I'm ok, I don't need a doctor Camille."

"Ok. I'm going to head out and give you guys some time to talk things over," Camille said. James smiled weakly and grabbed her hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"Thanks, Cam. For everything," James said. Camille brushed a strand of hair from his eyes affectionately.

"No problem. I'm just glad you guys are all ok, I can rest easy now. And James, I would probably get ready for some major lectures from these guys if I were you."

The boys all nodded, while James looked down at his hospital gown guiltily. Camille gave each boy a kiss on the cheek and left the room.

"Guess I'm not being let off the hook easy, huh?" James asked sheepishly. Carlos, Kendall and Logan crossed their arms and shook their heads no. James felt his cheeks heating up, and it wasn't because of his fever.

"Fess up dude. Why'd you do it?" Kendall asked bluntly. James shrugged, trying to act like he didn't know what Kendall was talking about, but the blonde knew better. "James, this is serious buddy. What was going on back at the house that would lead you to hiding pneumonia and driving around in the rain for medicine I didn't even really need?"

"Didn't _need?" _James asked, and his voice finally rose over a whisper with disbelief. It hurt his throat, but he ignored it. "Dude, you were practically dying! If Camille didn't come when she did, you would be a goner from literally puking your guts out!"

Logan cringed, muttering "too much info," while Carlos nodded.

"It's true Kendall, you were really sick too and you know it," Carlos said. "You would have done the same thing James had done whether you were sick or not if it had been James who was puking his guts out."

Kendall scowled. "Whatever. Still, even before I started throwing up that night, you were hiding something from us James. And I'm really sorry that we didn't catch on sooner and helped you, but you should have told us. I mean we tell each other everything bro. Now all of a sudden you get this sick and you refuse to let us know? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't think I was that sick," James lied.

"Bullsh-"

"Kendall!" Logan warned. Kendall scowled once again, his eyes emerald with chagrin. The blonde caught his words and sighed before continuing.

" Yeah right, James," Kendall said condescendingly. "You were fine these past few days just like you were 'fine' when Camille just asked you if you needed a doctor, when I can see it in your eyes that you are hurting and you really don't feel good." Kendall watched as James flinched at being caught in his lie. "Even in a hospital bed after waking up from passing out cold for two days straight, you still won't tell me what's wrong. Why?"

James shrugged again and wrung his hands nervously. He felt like that was all he was capable of doing. He wished Kendall would stop yelling at him because it was only making him feel worse.

"James you have pneumonia, that's serious business dude!" Kendall continued. He seemed oblivious to the fact that tears were starting to well up in James' eyes, but Logan caught on and put his hand on Kendall's back.

"Ok bro that's enough, he's too sick right now," Logan whispered. Kendall calmed down a bit, realizing immediately that he was being way too hard on James.

"I just want to know why you won't tell me," Kendall said, lowering his voice considerably.

"You haven't really given him a chance yet," Carlos pointed out timorously. "You keep yelling at him."

"Oh," Kendall said, ducking his head. He glanced at James, who nodded in agreement with Carlos. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. James was obviously having an inward struggle with himself to not cry. He was angry at himself for screwing up when he was just trying so hard to take care of them.

"I never meant for any of this to happen, I thought I would be fine," James finally said. He felt embarrassed when three pairs of eyes stared at him with undivided attention, and he avoided looking at any of his friends, playing with his thin white blanket instead. "It's not that I wasn't going to tell you guys, I just wanted to get you all better first before I allowed myself to be sick."

"Nobody told you that you had to play doctor for all three of us, especially when you weren't feeling good yourself," Kendall said. "You could have asked Camille for help or even Kelly and Gustavo. Well maybe not Gustavo, but definitely Kelly."

"But I didn't want help," James said. "I wanted to prove to you guys I could take care of you, and then it just kind of got out of hand."

"Prove to us…?" Carlos asked, confused. "What would you need to prove to us?"

"That I'm not just, you know, 'the face,'" James explained. "I wanted to contribute something towards this friendship besides my voice. I wanted to be the one to help you guys when you really needed somebody, and getting sick just kind of got in my way of that so I ignored it 'til it was too late."

Logan, Carlos and Kendall were absolutely startled by this revelation. This whole thing was because James, James freaking Isaac Diamond, was having a confidence issue?

"Dude, you really believe that?" Carlos asked.

"Well, yeah," James said. A few hot tears spilled from his eyes and he cursed himself under his breath for crying.

"James, you're 'the face' to all the kids in high school, and to our marketing directors and producers," Kendall said. "But to me and Carlos and Logan, you know you're so much more than that. You're our best buddy. You help me protect Carlos and Logan when they get their butts in trouble with bullies. You're my main man in hockey. You have won our team more games than I can count."

"That was all in Minnesota," James said. "But it's different here in LA. I feel like all I am good for is singing."

"But that's not true at all," Carlos said. "You give us dating advice, and you always stick up for us. You motivate us to work hard and never give up. You are the reason why our dreams are coming true right in front of us. So never think you're not good enough, when you've changed our lives and made us something amazing, James."

"Taking care of three sick friends at the same time is too much for anyone to handle, including myself," Logan said. "And you did a really, really good job. I'm impressed James."

"Really?" James asked hopefully.

"Really, bro," Kendall said. "Don't be afraid to ask for help sometimes. And never feel that way again. You mean the world to us. You might not be some kind of ridiculously genius doctor like Logan, but you are so much more than the face, ok?"

"Yeah, and that is more than good enough for us," Logan said.

"Ok, I'm sorry guys," James said, opening his arms for a four way hug. The friends all wrapped each other in a snuggly, warm group hug.

"Can we be done with the mushy, chick flick stuff now?" James asked desperately. He was starting to feel extremely tired, even though he had only just woken up, not to mention he was starving.

"Nope, not done yet," Kendall said, squeezing his friends tighter.

_Several days later…_

"So basically, in one week's time, you guys survived nearly being hit by a car, broken bones, ear infections, the flu, the measles, epic puke fests, pneumonia, _jail_, more hospital visits than I can count, and a severe case of low-self-confidence-itis?" Camille asked.

James, Kendall and Logan nodded with giant grins on their faces, as if they were proud of themselves for getting horribly sick and living through it without the help of their moms for the first time. The boys, who were finally healthy (even James) sat around the fire pit with all their palmwoods friends, telling them the crazy events from last week. Guitar Dude made up some disgusting song about vomit while the Jennifers didn't know whether to be appalled or sympathetic for the boys, and the rest of their friends were thoroughly intrigued.

"Yep, pretty much!" Kendall said. "Although when you say it like that, it kind of sounds like one of those overly-dramatic stories that our obsessed fangirls write, what is it called?"

"Oh, fanfic," Logan said with a snap of his fingers.

"Yeah, those are creepy," Kendall said with a shudder. Camille laughed.

"And it pretty much started because Carlos wanted to do a stupid stunt?" Blonde Jennifer asked.

"Yeah… Where is Carlos anyway?" James asked, looking around the patio for his small, helmeted friend.

"Over there, doing a stupid stunt," brunette Jennifer said.

"Look out guys, I reinvented my rocket-roller-skates recipe to be even faster. They can even shoot out fire up to five feet!" Carlos said excitedly from across the pool. "Let's see if I can skim water with them!"

The medium-sized crowd around the fire pit scrambled to their feet to get out of the way of the sure-to-be-disaster.

"Carlos, no!" Several voices yelled. Carlos' giggling was cut off by James body-slamming him into the pool, causing the rocket skates to drown with chlorine water.

"I am not getting pneumonia again," James said. Carlos re-surfaced and spit a fountain of water from his mouth. Kendall and Logan laughed and cheered for James, fist-bumping each other while Carlos scowled.

"Maybe all this crazy stuff was supposed to happen," Logan said, leaning back and putting on a pair of sunglasses. He closed his eyes and set his bare feet up near the fire letting the flames warm them up. "I mean, in a way, it brought us all closer, and we learned stuff about each other we never even knew before…" Logan started in on a rant, while Kendall, Carlos and James all exchanged mischievous looks. James gave Carlos a hand and helped him out of the pool and snuck up to Logan. The trio quickly snatched Logan in their arms and quickly brought him to the pool, dropping him in with a loud splash and a screech of unpleasant surprise.

"Ok, that takes care of the chick flick moments!" James said, brushing his hands off like his work was done. "Who wants a burger?"

**A/N Annnndddd, it's DONE. Yay :') I'm actually really happy with the way this story turned out! And I am so glad it's over 'cause now I can post new stories for you guys! Thanks so, so much for all of your support on this story… Love you guys! Hope you are all happy with the final chapter! Review? ;) xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo!**


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